A New Beginning
by Hannah Longbottom
Summary: And you thought the drama with these Hogwarts students was over! No way! The adventures never cease! Harry Potter may be married and settled down, but there's always his children!
1. First Impressions

"Let's take this compartment, Albus!" James Potter thrust his trunk above the seat and sat down.

"I thought you said I had to sit with my own year," Albus said, slowly.

"Well, you will after this journey. But you can have your first train journey with me. You need your older brother. Come on! Put your trunk away and sit down!" Albus did so with a grin and sat opposite his brother.

Poppy Finnegan entered the compartment.

"Hi James, Albus," she said, putting her trunk beside James'. "Wow, James! You were nice enough to let Albus sit with you!"

"Of course I was! He's my little brother!"

"So? Olive's my little sister, but she's already found her own friends! I've been dumped by my little sister! Hi Al!"

"Hi Poppy," Albus replied, quietly. Albus had always been a little bit intimidated by Poppy, just because she was so pretty. But she was also very nice, so he knew he didn't really have anything to be afraid of.

"So, how was your summer?" Poppy asked the boys.

"Not bad," James said. "We went to Cornwall for about a month. It was really fun."

"Sounds good," Poppy agreed. "We just stayed at home for most of it, but I was at Ella's house for a lot of it. Where is Ella anyway? I hope she hasn't missed the train." Right on cue, Ella Thomas opened the compartment door and dragged her trunk inside.

"Hello," she said serenely, shoving her trunk next to Poppy's.

"Hi Ella," James said. Ella had inherited her mother's dirty blonde hair, and big, glassy, blue eyes, but she had also inherited her father's art skills. She got out her sketchbook and sat next to Poppy.

"How were your holidays, Ella?" Albus asked. Albus had always been quite fascinated by Ella because she was arty, clever and very sort of distant and dreamy at the same time. According to James, she was seen around school with chalk or paint on her hands nearly everyday. She spent a lot of time over the Lake, sketching.

"There were quite good," Ella replied. "Mum, Hazel and I spent a month looking for the Crumple-Horned Snorcack. Can you believe that after twenty years Mum still hasn't found it?"

"Shocking!" Poppy replied, sarcastically. "So, did you find it?"

"No," Ella replied, sadly. "But the adventure was fun."

"Where is Hazel?" Poppy asked. Hazel was Ella's little sister who was coming in first year.

"I don't know. She ran off with Olive and Violet when we got on the train. I saw them talking to a blonde haired boy just now. I don't know who he is."

"James," Albus asked quietly. "What happens to the first years when we get there?"

"Well, you just wait till everyone is in the Great Hall and then you get sorted," James replied.

"In front of everyone?" Albus asked incredulously, his green eyes widening.

"Don't worry Al," Poppy put in. "There'll be loads of people you know getting sorted. Fred, Daphne, Lucy, Rose, Victoria, Lily, Louis, Hazel, Olive. You won't be alone."

"I know. It's just scary."

After a while, they heard the familiar call of "Anything from the trolley?" James sprang up and ran towards the compartment door. He opened it and ordered every possible thing in sight.

"Hungry, James?" Poppy asked, sarcastically.

"Starving," James replied, ignoring her sarcasm. "Do you want anything, Al?"

"Errmm...two cauldron cakes, three pumpkin pasties and a liquorice wand." James collected all the food and spread it all out on the seats. Suddenly, Olive burst in. Olive was very much like her sister. Brown eyes, pale skin very pretty with an incredibly confident perosnality. But rather than brown hair like Poppy, she had light blonde hair. Also, the two sisters were confident in a different way. They were both very social and chatty, but Poppy was very impervious, quick witted and sarcastic. Olive was very bouncy, bubbly and confident. And very loud. She was a very sparky, vivacious girl, especially for an eleven year old.

"Poppy!" she shouted, rushing towards her. "Can I have some money?" Poppy rolled her eyes.

"You could have asked me without deafening all of us," she said, reaching into her money bag. "Who are you sitting with?"

Olive counted the names off her fingers. "Rose, Lucy, Daph, Fred, Scorpius, Hazel, Violet, Katie and Louis."

"Should I be there?" Albus asked, anxiously.

"No, it's fine!" Olive insisted. "Everyone knows you're with James."

"Who's Katie?" Ella asked.

"Katie Wilson," Olive replied. "I asked her who her parents were and she said they were Mark Wilson and Cho Chang. And I've never heard of them."

"Cho Chang," James whispered to himself. "That sounds familiar. I think I've heard Mum talk about her. I don't think she likes her very much."

"What's she like?" Albus asked. "Is she our age?"

"Yeah, she is," Olive replied. "She's alright. She flicks her hair around too much for my liking though. Poppy, hurry up!"

"Alright!" Poppy exclaimed, handing over the gold. "Keep your hair on!" As Olive flounced out the compartment door, James took a look at his Chocolate Frog card.

"Hey, I got Dad in mine!" he announced. He showed them a man with a lightening bolt scar across his forehead and round glasses. They read the passage underneath, which simply told a short summary of the story they'd all heard many times before.

"When are we there?" Albus asked an hour after chit chatting.

"We're actually nearly here," Poppy asked. "We should change, Ella." Poppy and Ella looked at James and Albus, willing them to take the hint.

"Don't let us stop you," James said cheekily, crossing his legs and putting his arms behind his head.

"James, get out!" Poppy shouted, trying to look annoyed, but she couldn't help laughing.

"Why?" he asked. "If you want to get changed you move!"

"We're girls!" Poppy pointed out. "You're supposed to be the gentleman and offer to move!"

"In case you hadn't notice, Pops, I'm not a gentleman!" Poppy groaned loudly. "You're impossible!" she exclaimed, grabbing her trunk and heading out the door. Ella followed suit.

James rolled his eyes. "Why do girls always have to be so dramatic? Come on, Al. Let's get changed." As they did so, they noticed the train getting slower and slower. Hogwarts was drawing into view. Albus sat by the window and stared so much that mist appeared on the glass from his fast, hot breath. He had heard his father, his mother and his mother describe it for so long. But it was nothing compared to actually seeing the magnificent castle with your own eyes.

The compartment door opened again and Ella and Poppy returned in their Hogwarts uniform. Poppy was tying her hair up with a purple ribbon and glaring at James.

"I hate you," she said.

"Then why did you come back?" James asked. Poppy simply scowled. The scarlet steam engine suddenly drew to a halt, and they heard people in nearby compartments getting their trunks and making their way out the door. When Albus headed out, all he felt was the familiar fear and anxiety of the first day of school. As soon as they stepped out of the train, James did what Albus expected him to. He abandoned him and went over to all his friends. Ella sort of drifted off in a daze, so it was only him and Poppy. She saw the nerves etched all over Albus's face.

"Don't worry," she said, sympathetically. "You'll be fine, Albus. Look, there's my sister! She's trying to say something to you." Sure enough, Olive appeared to be waving Albus over. When he still didn't come, Olive sighed exasperatingly and came over herself.

"Come on, Albus!" she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him over impatiently. "You know over half these people! Don't be scared!" Albus realized she was right. The people that Olive was with were people he saw practically everyday. Rose, Fred, Lucy, Daphne, Violet and Louis.

"Where's Hazel gone?" Olive asked. "I was talking to her just a second ago! Honestly, that girl! You can't finish a conversation with her! She's _**always**_ wondering off!"

"She's just gone to talk to Ella," Daphne replied. "There she is. She's coming back now."

"Firs' years!" came a loud boom suddenly. "Firs' years over 'ere! Firs' years to me, please!" Albus followed the voice and laid eyes on the vast figure of Rubeus Hagrid.

"OK," Fred said. "Let's do this! Daph, did you bring the Weasley's Wizards Wheezes bag that Dad gave us?"

"Yes, Fred," Daphne said, rolling her eyes. "You've asked me a hundred times!"

"Did you make sure the dungbombs were in it?"

"Yes!"

"OK! Just checking!"

"Albus!" Dominique suddenly called. Albus smiled. Out of all Bill's children, he'd always thought Dominique was his favourite. He talked to her the most. She was one of his favourite cousins. She ran over to him, abandoning all her third year firends, and they all walked towards Hagrid.

"Why didn't you sit with me on the train?" she asked, tying her red her up into a ponytail.

"I couldn't find you!" he insisted. "And James wanted to sit with me because he wanted to play big brother. And also, you're in third year!"

"So? You're my cousin! Anyway, why isn't James playing big brother now?" she asked, looking over at him, who was now piling into a carriage with a group mixed with boisterous boys and chatty girls.

"I don't think he can play the role for too long," Albus replied. "But let's give him a little bit of credit. He sat with me for the entire train journey, didn't he?"

"I suppose. OK, I'd better go into the Great Hall. Good luck, Al!"

There were quite a lot of first years, it seemed. They were all very nervous about sailing across the Lake with Hagrid, but the journey didn't take too long, and very soon, they were all standing outside the Great Hall, waiting to enter. Albus could feel a huge lump in his throat.

"Don't worry, Al," he heard a voice whisper in his ear. He turned around to face Hazel. Hazel was the description of Luna and Dean put together. She was mixed race, had hazel eyes (appropriate) and a shade of hair which you could call dark brown or black. "It's going to be fine. It's in alphabetical order anyway, so at least you won't be first!"

"You know my dad is calling out the names?" Violet put in.

"I know," Albus said. Dominique had mentioned this to him last week when they had all gone to Diagon Alley. Albus heard a loud, ringing laugh. He turned around to see the source. He saw a very pretty girl with dark hair standing beside a white-blond haired boy. They seemed to be engrossed in conversation and laughing animatedly.

"That's Katie Wilson and Scorpius Malfoy," Rose whispered to Albus. "They were sitting with us on the train."

"They seem to be really good friends already," Albus whispered back.

"That, Al," Olive put in. "is the act of flirting. Trust me, I would know!" Suddenly, the loud chatter and laughter in the Great Hall that they had heard when they first came, ceased.

Hagrid held a finger to his lips, indicating them all to be quiet. The Sorting was about to begin.

* * *

The great doors swung open, and the first years filed in. Albus was still feeling very nervous and he knew he'd gone red. He was very grateful then that Lily had been the one to inherit their mother's red hair. It would've clashed horribly with his face. This very thing had happened to Louis, the only one of Bill's children to inherit the red hair gene, and he felt very sorry for him.

The first years all lined up in front of Neville Longbottom, who was holding the Sorting Hat and a long scroll of parchement. It was obvious that Neville was trying to do the late Professor McGonagall's justice by looking serious, but he couldn't help looking at Violet and smiling.

Albus was still thinking about what his father had said to him on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, but he was still incredibly frightened of the possibility that he might go into Slytherin. He knew that all the pureblood nonsense had ended nineteen years ago, but it's history still lingered.

"Armstrong, Paul!" Neville called out. A small, blond haired boy trembled over to the stool where Neville stood. Paul Armstrong sat on top of the stool as Neville placed the Sorting Hat on his head.

There was a long pause. Then: _Gryffindor_! The Gryffindor table clapped and cheered.

Next, Neville called: Billington, Paula!

"That's Parvati Patil's daughter!" Lucy whispered to Albus. "Uncle Ron told me about her!"

_Ravenclaw!_ The Ravenclaw table gave a generous applause.

"Brown, Gemma!"

_Gryffindor! _

_"_Bewley, Tom!"

_Hufflepuff! _

"Davies, Allison!" A very pretty girl with honey coloured hair walked up to the stool. She was biting her lip nervously.

_Grffindor!_

"Dean, Patrick!"

_Slytherin! _

"Finnegan, Olive!" Olive walked towards the stool with the swagger of a girl who'd been here all her life. She sat down and the Sorting Hat did its work.

_Gryffindor! _Albus was slightly surprised. Olive was quite clever so he just assumed that she'd go into Ravenclaw. Olive, however, looked as though she was expecting this to happen. She got off the stool gracefully, handed the Sorting Hat back to Neville and went to join the Gryffindors. Poppy clapped enthusiatically and looked at her sister proudly. It was very rare for Poppy to show any kind of emotion.

Several other names were called out. Some Albus wasn't even listening to. He just listened to the cheering and clapping from the four different tables.

"Longbottom, Violet!" Neville's tone of voice didn't change, even as he placed the Sorting Hat on his daughter's head. But when the Sorting Hat called out _Gryffindor!_, he clapped vigorously with the rest of Gryffindor house. Even her sister, Polly, clapped loudly from the Hufflepuff Table.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" The blond haired boy that Albus had seen with Katie walked up to the stool. Neville placed the Sorting Hat onto his head. It took a long while. Then:

_Slytherin! _He beamed proudly and walked to the Slytherin table and sat down.

"Martin, Alice!" Albus knew who this was. This was the black haired, tanned skin, brown eyed daughter of Padma Patil, who he was sure had a twin brother.

_Hufflepuff! _

"Martin, Jack!" Ah! Here was the twin brother, who was identical to his sister apart from being male. Same hair, same eyes, same soft expression.

_Gryffindor! _That was interesting. He had been separated from his sister. Albus felt even more nervous now, if that were indeed possible.

"Potter, Albus!" The butterflies in Albus's stomach seemed to fly around even more vigorously as he walked up to the stool and sat down. As soon as Neville slid the Sorting Hat on his head, he jumped as he heard a voice in his ears.

_Hmm..the second Potter child. I knew it wouldn't be long till I had to deal with you. Very much like youir father I see. Brains, wit, cunning, a desperate eagerness to prove yourself and a__lso undeniable determniation. So, where to put you? _

**_Not Slytherin_**, Albus thought desperately, just as his father had on that very day twenty five years ago. **_Please not Slytherin. Anywhere but Slytherin. _**

_Slytherin? Why, the thought hadn't even entered my mind. But now that you mention it, it is a good idea._

**_No! Please not Slytherin!_**

_Not Slytherin? Very well then,_

_Gryffindor! _Albus felt an unbelievable surge of relief and pride as he went to sit beside Olive at the Gryffindor Table. He beamed with pleasure as he looked at his brother, who winked at him from where he was sitting. He willed himself to concentrate as Tessie Parker got sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Thomas, Hazel!"

"I'm sure she knows where she's going already!" Olive whispered into Albus's ear. It took quite a while with Hazel, then:

_Ravenclaw! _Those were another pair of siblings that had been separated. Albus wondered if that happened a lot. He looked over at Ella. She was clapping politely along with the Ravenclaws. She didn't look remotely fazed.

A few other first years got Sorted. Then the letter nearly everyone had been waiting for arrived: W. This was going to be a long list.

"Weasley, Daphne!" Fred and Alicia's daughter walked up to the Sorting Hat with a cheeky grin on her face.

_Gryffindor! _

"Naturally," Olive whispered.

"Weasley, Fred!" Daphne's twin brother walked over.

_Gryffindor!_

"Weasley, Lily!" Charlie Weasley and Miriam Thwaites daughter walked over to the stool.

_Ravenclaw! _

"Weasley, Louis!"

_Gryffindor! _

"Weasley, Lucy!" Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater's daughter walked over.

_Hufflepuff! _

"Weasley, Rose!"

_Ravenclaw! _Albus was slightly surprised, but at least she'd be with Lily and Hazel.

"Weasley, Victoria!" Lily's twin sister walked over to the stool.

_Gryffindor! _

_**What is with the siblings and twins being split up? **_Albus thought to himself.

"Finally," Olive whispered to Albus, as Rita Williams was sorted into Slytherins.

"That's the last Weasley."

"Wilson, Katie!" The pretty black haired girl that they'd seen with Scorpius strode over to the stool. She had a similar swagger to Olive, but Albus could tell that this was cockiness.

_Slytherin!_ Katie simpered and went to join the Slytherins. She squeezed herself between Scorpius and poor Rita Williams and gave Scorpius a big grin.

The Sorting ended quite abruptly. The headmaster, Ernie Macmillan, got up and made a short welcome back speech before telling everybody to dig in.

Albus chatted to Olive and Daphne as he ate his turkey and mashed potatoes. Now that the anxiety of the Sorting was over, he was feeling very confident about this year.


	2. Philosophy at Breakfast

James met Albus in his dormitory as promised the previous night.

"This is only because it's your first morning," he insisted, for the fiftieth time. "This is the only time I'm ever going to do this. So make the most of it." They started walking down the stairs.

"How was your first night?" James asked.

"It was good," Albus replied, still taking in the fascinating common room. "Strange. But good."

"Who are you in a room with?"

"Fred, Louis, Paul Armstrong, Jack Martin and Ryan Scott."

"That must be rowdy," James said, amusingly.

"With Fred there? Obviously! I know he's got some plans up his sleeve, but he won't tell us what. I suppose he wants us to find out the hard way." James and Albus went over to the Gryffindor Table, which wasn't very filled. The whole of sixth year was there. They knew that because they saw Victoire talking to a girl beside her animatedly. But there were only a few second years and several first years.

"Most people don't come down till about eight," James explained. "I'm going to go." He left Albus abruptly and went over to talk to a few boys in his year. Albus shrugged and sat down beside Olive. He caught sight of Victoria opposite him and smiled. There were a couple of girls he recognized from the Sorting, but forgot who they were.

"Hi Albus," Olive said, brightly. "These are the girls I share a dorm with. Of course you already know Vic, Daph, Violet and me, obviously. But there a couple of girls you don't know. This is Gemma Brown." She pointed to a girl with soft, brown hair and equally soft brown eyes, freckles and pale ethereal looking skin.

"Hi," Gemma said shyly, waving at Albus awkwardly. Albus waved back and immediately felt the colour rush to his cheeks. **_Great_**, he thought. **_Really impressive, Al! _**

"And this is Allison Davies." Olive was now gesturing to the girl on her other side. Albus had to peer past Olive to look at her. He recognized her as the pretty girl with honey coloured hair that had walked up to the Sorting Hat last night looking very nervous. She had bright, electric blue eyes and she smelt very strongly of the lilies that his mother liked to grow out of her wand in the garden.

"Allison, Gemma, this is my family friend, Albus."

"Hi," Albus said, again. At least he didn't blush this time. Allison grinned broadly. She looked a lot more confident than she did last night.

"Hi!" she beamed. "Are you a Weasley?"

"No," Albus replied. "Potter."

"Oh, it's just that there are about a million of them. I'm confused already."

"Well, at least they're not your cousins," Albus laughed.

"Hey!" Victoria and Daphne said at the same time.

"No offence," Albus added, hastily.

"Where is Fred?" Daphne said, looking at her watch. "He said he'd be here early to discuss Operation One!"

"He's still asleep," Albus replied. "And what is Operation One?" Although he was more or less used to Daph's strange ways by now, he still had to question _some _things.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Daph said, mysteriously, tapping her nose.

"Yes, we would," Olive said, impatiently. "So will you please tell us like a normal person?"

"Olive, what gave you the impression that Daph is a normal person?" Victoria chimed.

"True," Olive had to agree.

"Albus," Allison suddenly said. "Is it true that Victoria can breathe fire?"

Albus didn't look up in time to see Victoria desperately winking and hinting at him to play along. He chuckled quietly.

"She lives on a dragon farm," he explained, patiently. "But she can't breathe fire!"

"Albus!" Victoria sighed, exasperatingly. It was then that Albus realized that a little playing along was in order. Violet sighed deeply.

"You're so special, Albus," she said, pityingly. The seven of them chatted for a few minutes and then the inhabitants of Albus's dormitory joined them.

"Hi," Fred said. "Sorry I'm late, Daph. I had some duties I had to attend to."

"Such as?" Daphne asked.

"The Land of Nod," he laughed, grabbing a pile of toast and buttering it with copius amounts of butter and jam.

"How did you sleep?" Louis asked, thickly, his mouth full of toast and marmalade. Olive eyed him disgustingly and began nibbling daintily at her own toast.

"Not bad," Violet replied.

"We were visited by the ghost though," Allison said.

"Oh, Nearly-Headless Nick?" Albus asked, eagerly. "My dad told me about him. How come he didn't come and visit us?"

"Errm, Allie?" Olive suddenly asked, holding her spoonful of Cheerios in mid-air. "Why is James staring at you?" It was true. James and a few at his friends had started staring at Allison, and not very discreetly. In fact, the one beside James was basically _leering _at her.

"Albus," Olive carried on, impatiently. "Control your brother. He's being weird."

"James Potter is your brother?" Allison asked. "He's hot!"

"O...K," Albus replied, somewhat uncomfortably.

"Wait a minute," Allsion said. "Is your dad Harry Potter?"

"Errm..yeah," Albus replied. He was quite used to this, but he still found it strange when people asked him questions about his father like he was some celebrity.

"Merlin!" she breathed. "Is he going to come here? Will we be able to meet him?"

"Chill out, Allie!" Olive said.

"Yeah," Gemma piped up. "It's not like his dad's Angelina Jolie or something." There was a silence.

"Who's that?" Albus asked.

"Probably some Muggle celebrity," Allison said, passively.

"Gemma is Muggle born," Olive explained. "Who is Angelina Jolie anyway?"

"She's an actress," said Gemma.

"An actress?" Louis repeated, questioningly.

"Yeah," Gemma went on. "That means she acts, mainly on the TV, you know, the television box that we Muggles watch for entertainment. I'll bring in a picture of her after Christmas. I know you boys will appreciate it." She nodded towards the boys when she said this last line.

"Seriously, Albus," Olive said, putting her spoon down. "Tell your brother to stop staring at Allie! It's weird!"

"Allie doesn't seem to mind!" Gemma commented. It was true. Allison was now staring back at James and twiddling the ends of her hair flirtatiously.

"Well, some of us are trying to eat!" Olive explained, nonplussed. "And we can't do that with James and his mates _ogling _at her!"

"Fine," Albus sighed, reluctantly. "I'll tell him." He got off the bench and walked over to where James was sitting with his friends. He knelt down beside his brother.

"James," he whispered, not wanting to say it loudly and embarass him. "Errm, Olive and a few of the other girls over there think it's really weird that you're staring at Allison, so...they kind of want you to stop."

"Is that her name?" James asked eagerly, as if just coming out of a trance. He elbowed the boy beside him who had been leering at Allison. "Max! Her name's Allison! Allison what, Al?"

"Davies," Albus replied, warily. "Anyway, they just want you to stop staring. Olive says she can't eat when you do that."

"Well tell Olive to mind her own business!" James snapped, irritably. "Anyway, I don't see _Allison_ complaining." He said her name as if she were the Greek goddess, Aphrodite herself. Or even this Angelina Jolie that Gemma had spken of. Albus rolled his eyes. He wasn't surprised. It was never easy to tell James what to do. As he walked away, he heard Max hiss to James:

"Who's Olive?"

"Oh, just a family friend," James said, passively.

"Which one is she though?" Max persisted.

"The one on Allison's left hand side."

"Oh. She's not bad either actually!"

"She's Poppy's sister."

"Ah, runs in the family then! Some great genes there!"

"Max! Ew! Poppy's like my other sister!"

"So? She's not like a sister to me!" Albus sighed with exasperation as he joined his friends (and cousins) again.

"Are they going to stop now?" Olive asked.

"I wouldn't count on it," Albus replied, honestly.

"Ew! Now the one beside James is staring at _me_!" Olive exclaimed. "Actually, he's quite hot!"

"He is, isn't he?" Allie agreed. "And so's James."

"No, that would be weird," Olive replied, quickly. "He's my sister's best friend."

"So?" Allie queried. "He's not your best friend!"

"I know. But it's still weird."

"Well, I think he's hot. What do you think Gemma?" Gemma looked up her cornflakes and shrugged, not looking remotely interested.

"I hadn't really noticed," she said. Albus smiled, feeling very happy for some reason.

"Oh OK," Allison said, surprisingly. "Daph, what do you think?"

"Ew!" Daph exclaimed, just like Olive had a second ago. "James is my cousin!"

"Oh sorry," Allison said, apologetically. "I can't keep up with your large and complicated Potter/Weasley family tree! What about the other one? You're not related to him, are you?"

"No," Daph admitted, scanning Max. "But he looks like a bit of a show off."

"You must be talking about Max Bailey." They all whirled around in their seats and saw Poppy Finnegan. "Stay away from him," she warned. "He's trouble."

"Hi Pops," Olive said. "What do you mean he's trouble?"

"He's a bit of a player," Poppy explained, eyeing Max with distaste. "I'm just warning you. You're right, Daph. He's a show-off, he's irritating and he picks up girls and then disposes of them like used hankies. Just ask Polly."

"Polly?" Violet asked, suddenly. "As in my sister, Polly?"

"Yeah. She went out with him last year for a month and then he dumped and started going out with Hayley Branning half an hour later."

"Is he still going out with Hayley now?" Victoria asked. Poppy shook her head at her pityingly.

"Haven't I explained the hanky system?" she stated. "No. He's gone out with about a million other girls since then."

"That's so cool," Jack said, admiringly. Ryan, Paul and Louis all agreed heartily. Fred looked disinterested and was now bending over a suspicious looking diagram with Daphne. All the other girls, apart from Olive and Allison who were still smiling and giggling at Max and James, looked very upset by this, especially Violet.

"I'm just telling you girls now," Poppy finished. "Especially you, Olive. Max Bailey is no good."

"Fine," Olive said, impatiently. "Whatever, Poppy, I can look after myself."

"Yeah, right," Poppy scoffed. "You try looking after youself here. I swear, you won't last a week!"

"Well, you did!" Olive pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're..you. I'm not saying your completely hopeless, I'm just saying that Hogwarts is not something you can just describe. You have to live it for yourself to get your own personal definition of what it's like here."

"Whatever!" Olive said again. "Since when are you so philosophical? I'll be fine, Poppy! Don't worry about me!" Poppy shrugged and went over to sit beside James. She elbowed him sharply in the ribs to stop him staring at Allison.

"Good morning to you to," he muttered, rubbing his chest. Poppy reached for the platter of kippers.

**_Yep_**, she thought. **_This is going to be a very interesting year_**.


	3. Wit Beyond Measure?

Of course, Poppy had been right about Max Bailey. She was never wrong about anything. Since her first breakfast, Olive had been taking a real interest in Max. But because he was in second year, the only time she really saw him was on the way to classes and in the common room. But he was always flirting with girls in the corridors, and in the common room he was always with all his friends and Olive might be confident, but she wasn't quite brazen enough to strut over to someone she'd never spoken to and who was a year older than her when he was surrounded by all his friends and strike up a conversation.

But, on the bright side, she didn't think that she had gone unoticed. Max had given her a few more of the same looks he had given her at breakfast nearly three weeks ago. But, what annoyed her was that he was never seen with the same girl. But she refused to admit her sister was right. She refused to put the words "Poppy" and "right" in the same sentence. It occured far too often already.

"Olive?" Gemma asked, urgently.

"What?" Olive said, abruptly, snapping back to life. She had been gazing at Max, but now decided to pretend to be staring out of the common room window.

"I've just been talking to you for the past five minutes!" Gemma said, impatiently.

"Oh, sorry," Olive replied, apologetically. She turned to face her parchment and quill again. "What were you saying?"

"I was asking how you did your Transfiguration homework," Gemma said, still staring at Olive strangely.

"Oh, I've already done it," Olive answered, hastily.

"I know," Gemma answered, slowly. "I was asking you _how_. Are you feeling alright, Olive?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Olive replied, cooly. She was very good at lying. One thing that she felt lucky about, she _never _went red. "Why?"

"Nothing. You were just acting really weird. You were staring into space for about ten minutes."

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"About...cheese."

"Cheese?"

"Yeah."

"Why were you thinking about cheese?"

"Because cheese is cool! What do you have against cheese?"

"Nothing. It's just a bit weird to be thinking about it when you're doing your homework!"

"There's never a bad time to think about cheese!" Gemma peered at Olive suspiciously. She may be very smooth, but behind that cool exterior, Gemma could tell that she was hiding something.

"What's really going on, Olive?"

"Nothing! I'm going to go and send an owl now." And with that, she departed abruptly from the room. Ryan came over and sat down in her place.

"What was that about?" Gemma whispered, aloud.

"What?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing. Just Olive being...weird. What's up?"

"How did you do your Transfiguration homework?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know! I was trying to ask Olive but she just kept going on about cheese!"

"I like cheese," Ryan muttered.

"Not you too!" Gemma sighed, exasperatingly.

"No, it's alright!" Ryan insisted. "I won't go off on a rant! Has Olive done her Transfiguration?"

"Yeah. But she didn't get round to telling me how she did it."

"Mrs Gaultier's going to go insane."

"I know. But Louis could get away with it. After all, he is her nephew."

"I can't believe she's part Veela!"

"So's Louis," Gemma pointed out.

"And Dominique and Victoire," Ryan added.

"Did you do your Potions?" Gemma asked, getting out her copy of _Potions: A Beginner's Guide_.

"Nope. Professor Stuart will just have to deal with it. He won't like it, but that's just life."

"Herbology?" Gemma asked.

"I don't need to write that down! It's all in my head."

"Why is it always the two of us that never do their homework?"

"Because we're too mentally advanced to do something so _primitive _as _homework_!"

"Oh look!" Gemma exclaimed, ignoring Ryan's pathetic and completely untrue excuse that he always used. "Violet's here! She can help us with our Herbology!"

"Or, she can just ask Professor Longbottom for the answers and just give them to us."

"Ryan, you promised you wouldn't take advantage of the fact that Professor Longbottom is her dad."

"You say "taking advantage" as if it's a bad thing. Why don't we be optimistic about this situation?"

"Violet!" Gemma rolled her eyes and called her over. "Can you please help us with the Herbology homework?"

"Sure," Violet agreed, kneeling down between Ryan and Gemma.

"Well," Gemma started, getting out the parchment which she had done about half of the work already. "I've already done the foot long parchment of the defence mechanism of the _Mandrake_. But I'm not really sure what the properties of the _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_ are."

"And Ryan?" Violet requested. "How far have you gotten up to?"

"I don't even know what a defence mechanism is," Ryan replied, truthfully.

"Oh OK," Violet sighed. "That far. Right, Gemma, basically.." She began to explain the properties of Mimbulus Mimbletonia to her. When she was finished, she turned to face Ryan again.

"And Ryan, you can just copy mine. It'll take _way _too long if I try and explain it to you." Ryan, not a bit insulted, got out a blank piece of parchment and his quill. Violet went and got her Herbology homework.

"If you don't recognize some of the words," she said. "Just say them out loud and sound them out s..lo..wl...y." Everyone teased Ryan for having no brains, although that wasn't actually the case. He had plenty of intelligence, he just never used it. He never tried in class or did his homework. Gemma, on the other hand, was clever. She just got stuck on her homework occasionally, like most people. She was top in Charms though, and she was the only one remotely interested in History of Magic. Albus had told his new friends all about Professor Binns, basing them on the story he'd heard from his dad. The old and reedy ghost that was Professor Binns was still there, telling students the history of magic in his monotonous voice. The entire first year class sat with their heads on desks, playing hangwizard and noughts and crosses, or in Olive and Allison's case doing their nails. Olive had learnt this artistic skill from her mother, naturally. A lot of people even used a few sweets from the Skiving Snackboxes Fred had been selling around Hogwarts, so that they didn't have to bother to come at all. The only two people that paid attention in this ever dreaded class were Gemma and Rose. They sat together looking absolutely riveted by Professor Binns's classes and taking notes eagerly.

"Gem," Ryan started, cautiously. "When I'm done with Herbology, can I copy your History of Magic homework." Gemma looked up and glared. She didn't mind Ryan copying her other work, not even Charms, when she was in a good mood. But, she was very particular about A History of Magic. She didn't like the way no one listened to Professor Binns, and she'd like it if people paid a little attention because it wasn't very polite not to pay attention to someone who had devoted their time to teaching students. She had given everyone this lecture every single day since their first lesson. Everyone loved Gemma, she had a kind heart and a comforting personality. But, she could be extremely irritating when it came to her and her beloved History of Magic lessons.

"When are you going to do your own work for a change?" Gemma asked, wearily. "And I'm talking about all subjects."

"I have to agree with Gemma on this one," Violet said. "You do copy and awful lot."

"I know! It's so tiring!"

"Oh yeah?" Gemma asked, sarcastically. "Imagine how exhausting it is doing it yourself?"

"God, I can't even imagine that!" He winced at the looks Violet and Gemma were giving him now. "Oh, come on! I do Defence Against The Dark Arts homework!"

"Mr Collins never gives us any homework," Gemma pointed out.

"I know. That's why it's my favourite class! So, can I copy the History of Magic?"

"Why even bother?" Violet asked. "Professor Binns never checks the homework anyway!"

"That's true," Ryan noticed. "Oh, never mind then, Gem." And with that, he handed Violet back her Herbology homework, put his own plagiarised copy into his bag and opened up a magazine. Gemma rolled her eyes, and then peered at the cover.

"Are you reading _Witch Weekly_?" she asked suspiciously, grinning.

"I'm checking my horoscope!" Ryan exclaimed defensively, as the two girls laughed.


	4. Summing Up

Rose sat in the Ravenclaw common room, practising the charm they had learnt just that week, _Wingardium Leviosa_. She was very happy that she had been the first one in the class to get it right. Hazel sat opposite her in the armchair by the fire, reading a copy of _Witch Weekly_.

"What are you reading?" Rose asked.

"Just checking my horoscope," Hazel answered. "Apparantly it is very dangerous for me to be around people with a dangerous sense of humour."

"Aah!" Rose said, beaming as her book floated in mid-air, yet again. "You'd better stay away from Fred and Daph then!"

"Hmm," Hazel agreed. "Of course I knew what my horoscope was before I read this. And I also knew that you were going to say that." Rose giggled. She thought it was very funny that Hazel was a real Seer. The Thomas family was so adorably ridiculous, that she had thought that it was yet another ludicrous story. Like the Crumple-Horned Snorcack, which her mother continuously insisted that no matter what Luna said, _did not exist_. But just last week, Hazel forsaw that poor Melanie Hayes in their year, but in Hufflepuff, would experience a very embarassing fall in the Great Hall in front of everyone which would involve a banana peel and a massive bowl of leek and potato soup. And, three days later, that was exactly what happened at lunchtime. Poor Melanie Hayes. But on the bright side, Rose did have a fun time writing to her mother and saying that Hazel was indeed a true Seer.

"And I bet," Hazel went on, her hazel eyes shining. "That the next issue will say that Mariella Krum is pregnant again on the cover." Rose tried to store that in her mind and see what happened next month when the latest _Witch Weekly _issue would come out.

About ten minutes later, Rose and Hazel were joined by the four girls they shared a dormitory with. Louisa Cunningham, Millie Brooks (short for Camilla), Matilda Riley and Rhea Jacobs.

"Is it weird being in a different house from your cousin?" Rhea asked Rose.

"No," Rose replied, putting her wand back into her pocket and relaxing in the armchair. "And anyway, I have Lily. I'm not apart from all my cousins. To tell you the truth, it's a bit of a relief. I mean I'm with them all the time out of school anyway. I could never live in the same house with James especially."

"Why not?" asked Millie, getting out a Fanged Frisbee and throwing it around.

"Because he's just disgusting!" Rose exclaimed, grimacing. "I feel really sorry for Albus. He has to live with him at home and in school!"

"How is he disgusting?" Matilda asked. "Does he pick his nose and eat it or something?"

"Ew," Rose shuddered. "I would love to say no to that. But he probably does. And he chews with his mouth open. And he burps."

"That's just the usual boy behaviour though," Louisa pointed out. Hazel and Rose had gotten on with these girls very well since their first night in Ravenclaw.

Louisa Cunningham was the smart one. But not in the same way as Rose. She was smart in class, but not so much so that it was noticeable. Her intelligence was more common sense and she was very wise. She had an older sister, so that was probably how she knew so much about...everything. One thing that Rose had noticed when she first met Louisa was that she was very impatient. She didn't see why it was neccessary to wait for anything. She thought that waiting for something just wastes the time that you could be spending enjoying what you were waiting for.

Millie Brooks was the ever-so rebellious one. She was one of the most daring people Rose had ever met. She basically didn't think anything was worth doing if there was no risk. She really didn't care what anyone thought of whatever she did, she thought that being daring and risky was the best way to have fun. Millie was very compatible with Allison and Olive. They all became fast friends from probably the second day.

"Mills," Rose said, cautiously. "I think Fanged-Frisbees are banned."

"So?" Millie asked, unceasingly throwing it around the room. She shrugged her shoulders, unfazed.

Matilda Riley was almost the exact same version of Olive Finnegan. She and Olive clicked instantaneously near the very beginning, but for a different reason as she and Millie. Olive and Millie clicked because they were both very loud and enthuiastic and slightly mad. This was a bit similar to Matilda I suppose, she was also loud and enthusiatic. But, very much like Olive, she was very outgoing and sociable and vivacious and funny. She was very wild for an eleven year old. And also, like Millie, Matilda was willing to try new things. But unlike Millie, she had a limit. So Matilda got on with these two girls very well. Everyone in her year by now called her Mat for short, and sometimes Mattie.

And finally, Rhea Jacobs. Well, there always has to be a responsible one! Everybody thought that Gemma Brown would be that one. But, they all soon discovered that Gemma didn't really care much for the rules. She didn't delibrately try and break them, but she was never wary or hesitant when it came to doing so. Rhea was the opposite. She wasn't the goody goody of the class or anything, but she was a very cautious person. She was quite nervous about doing anything remotely rebellious. All the Ravenclaws found it quite hilarious that she shared a dormitory with Millie. You couldn't ever find two girls that were so different. Millie was always trying to loosen Rhea up and trying to get her to break a rule or two. She was often found saying, "Merlin, Rhea! I just really want you to do something really crazy and rebellious! I want you to come out of your shell!" But Rhea simply laughed nervously and treated it as a joke, even though she knew Millie was completely serious. She didn't deliberately try and act like that, she just felt uncomfortable whenever the rules were broken even slightly.

Rose found it funny that she was somewhere inbetween all these girls. She was quite chatty and sociable like Gemma. But she also sometimes liked a bit of quiet time, just reading a book by the fire as well as being the agony aunt to all her friends, like Louisa. She could be loud and jolly at times like Millie, and she could be sensible and cautious like Rhea. But she also had a wild and wicked side to her, like Mat and Olive.

And of course, Hazel was just the loony of the house. Well actually, the looney of the year. And she was fine with that, and so was everyone else. She was very spacey. She could literally just sit and stare into space for hours on end if you left her. Merlin knows what she spent her time thinking about.

"So," Mat said, doing her nails just like Olive had taught her last week. "Any scandal?" Oh, of course. Mat was also the hopeless gossip, as was Allison. The two of them would sometimes stay behind late in the Great Hall after supper just _gossiping_. And not just about their year, the whole of Hogwarts! Even the teachers sometimes!

"Nope," Louisa replied, watching the Fanged Frisbee go around and around.

"Ooh!" Mat suddenly exclaimed. "Hazel, when you've finished checking your horoscope can you please check mine?"

"You are going to have a very disastrous love life," Hazel answered, promptly.

"Oh," Mat said, deflating. "Well, that's a lovely confidence boost." Suddenly, they all heard footsteps down the girls' staircase and then the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them, impatiently and sternly. They all groaned inwardly. This could only mean one thing. Or rather, one person. One _irritating _person.

"Millie Brooks, you know perfectly well that Fanged Frisbees are banned. It is on Caretaker Burrows' extensive list for objects, toys and/or products that are banned." The all turned around to view Chrissie Parks, Head Girl. And, unfortunately, she was in Ravenclaw with them. Chrissie Parks had been on all the first year Ravenclaws ever since she had met her sworn enemy, Millie Brooks. Millie brought everything to Hogwarts that Chrissie despised. Mess, disaster, chaos and most importantly, lack of authority. Chrissie liked everything to be neat and tidy and under her control. Millie didn't even try and get in the way. She just...did.

"Sorry Chrissie," Millie droned, putting it back into her pocket.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Chrissie said, holding out her hand. "Give it to me please."

"Are you joking?" Millie asked, incredulously. "You're confiscating a toy?"

"A _forbidden _toy," Chrissie corrected. Millie rolled her eyes, sighed irritably and handed the Frisbee to Chrissie, which bit her almost instantly. Chrissie winced and defiantly put it into her pocket.

"If you fall out of line again, Millie Brooks, I will have no choice but to report you to Headmaster Macmillan. Now, all of you, make yourself useful and do some work please." And with that, she strode out of Ravenclaw Tower, her nose in the air.

"Weirdo," Mat muttered. Everyone laughed.


	5. Quidditch Practice

About a month later, a lot of the first year girls sat in the stands of the Quidditch pitch, watching Gryffindor's Quidditch practise. All the Ravenclaw and Gryffindors made up this crowd. Well, Gemma, Lily, Victoria, Rose, Daphne, Louisa, Violet, Rhea, Hazel and Millie were watching the Quidditch. Olive, Mat and Allison were at the end of the row, all poring over the latest issue of _Witch Weekly_.

"Merlin!" Allison breathed.

"What?" Violet asked.

"Mariella Krum is pregnant again!" Olive called, urgently. Rose turned to her right and met Hazel's eye. Hazel winked at her knowingly.

"Is there any reason why you guys aren't watching?" Victoria asked, looking over to where the three girls were sitting.

"Because _someone _has to keep up with the gossip!" Mat replied.

Over at the other end of the pitch, James and Max were getting ready to fly.

"Do you think Olivia knows I'm on the Quidditch team?" Max asked James, in a would-be casual voice.

"Clearly not," James replied, mounting his broom. "Otherwise she'd be looking straight at you rather than reading..." He stopped and peered to take a closer look at the magazine.

"Witch Weekly," replied one of the Beaters, Patrick Ellis, from behind them, a little too quickly. He blushed violently. "Not that I would know or anything," he added hastily.

"Fine then," James said, chuckling a little. "She would be looking straight at you instead of reading, errm..Witch Weekly apparantly. Oh by the way, Max. Her name is Olive. Not Olivia."

"Oh. Sorry." They were all just about to fly up into the air, when the Quidditch Captain, Archie Hampton blew his whistle. James sighed deeply and walked over to him.

The seven players stood in a semi circle in the middle of the pitch. The Chasers first: Georgie Maxwell in third year, Isabelle Wilson in second year and Archie, who was in fifth year. Then the Beaters: Sarah Hilton and Patrick. The Keeper next to them, who was Max. And then finally, the Seeker: James. James felt proud and honoured to be the Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, because his dad had been so as well. Also, James got the position in first year, when Professor Longbottom had witnessed his amazing Seeking skills and told Archie immediately, and this had been the first First Year to get onto a Quidditch Team since his dad had gotten the very same position in his first year at Hogwarts. Of course, James loved playing Quidditch and he loved his position as a Seeker. But the main reason why he loved it the most was because he knew his father had been an amazing Seeker, and he always felt a tiny bit left out and disappointed that Albus had been the one to inherit most his father's traits. Albus looked exactly like him, just a lot younger. Jet black, permanantly messy hair, green eyes and round glasses. He'd even heard Professor Longbottom say that he looked exactly like his dad when he was in first year. So it was because of this that James was proud that he had inherited his father's Seeker skills. Albus was alright at Quidditch, but James was much better, and he knew it. Although it was quite hard to tell whether he'd inherited his father's Quidditch skills or his mother's. Because he knew his mother had been good at Quidditch when she was at Hogwarts as well. He suspected it was a mixture of both. He was also happy that his Dad had passed his amazing Firebolt onto him. Of course, he knew that there were many more brooms in the shops these days. There was even one made in the name of his father called the Potter, which Albus had at home. But, this Firebolt meant something because it had been his father's once upon a time. And that gave him extra luck, James thought.

"OK," Archie said, briskly. "We need to sort out our plan."

"Archie," Isabelle sighed, impatiently. "We went over it last night."

"Did we?" Archie asked.

"Yes," Georgie assured him. "You wouldn't let us go to bed until half past one in the morning. Remember?"

"Oh yeah," Archie said, vaguely. "Right then. In that case, let's get cracking." Before they set off, Max tapped James on the shoulder.

"Before we start," he breathed in his ear. "Do you think you can please casually saunter into the stands and _subtlely_ let Olive know I'm here. Please? It'll look to obvious if I do it."

"Errm," James stuttered, a bit blindsighted. "Me walking over to a group of first year girls would not look casual."

"Yes it would! Oh look! Your brother's just come. Just come up with something to say to him and then just casually mention me?"

"Like what?"

"I dunno. You're smart. You'll figure something out. Please?" James hesitated.

"Fine," he agreed, reluctantly. "But remember what I told you the other week about what might happen to you if you make a move on Poppy's sister?"

"Please," Max scoffed. "I can handle Poppy. It'll be fine." James shrugged as if to say, "On your own head be it," and walked towards the stands.

He got there after a couple of minutes, and, conveniently, Albus was talking to a brown haired girl who he assumed must be Gemma Brown. Just above them sat Mat Riley, Olive and...Allison Davies. He felt as if something had plunged into his stomach. He'd forgotten she was here. She had momentarily looked up from the magazine and set eyes on James. She stared at him for a couple of minutes and looked back at the magazine again, but James was pretty sure that her eyes weren't moving around the pages.

"Al," he said, softly. "Errm, have you written to Mum and Dad recently?"

"No," Albus replied, wondering why James was coming over him in the middle of his Quidditch practise to ask about family corrispondence. "Why?"

"No reason. It's just that Max and I were just talking over there and he might be coming to stay for a week during Christmas." He unneccessarily pointed over to where Max was standing. He saw Olive look up interestingly. James knew Olive well. It looked like she was only vaguely interested, but he knew that she was picking out every word she said and surveying Max very carefully.

"OK," Albus replied, slowly. "Why can't you just tell them that?"

"Because I'm busy!" James replied, patiently.

"O...K," Albus said, again. He was still wondering what was going on.

"Thanks. OK, I have to go back to Max. Bye guys."

"Bye," Albus said, staring after him and then exchanging confused looks with Gemma.

"Bye James!" Allison called after him. Mat sniggered.

"Smooth!" she commented, as Allison went crimson.


	6. The 'Peacful' One

"So what are you going to do about Max and Olive?"

James sat in the Gryffindor common room, finishing off his Transfiguration homework with his friend, Felicity Matthews. Felicity was James' confidante. Well, not really. That was Poppy, after all she was his best friend. But whenever the problem involved Poppy he always went to Felicity.

"I have no idea," he replied. He yawned loudly. It was half past eleven at night and he and Felicity were the only ones left in the common room, apart from Rachel Jenkins and Andrew O' Connor in fifth year, who were snuggled up in an armchair.

"It's just really weird and complicated," James went on. "I mean, Poppy is my best friend and Olive is a really good family friend. And if I help Max go out with Poppy's little sister, she will break me. But Max is like my guy best friend, and I want to help him out. But he is also a complete player and he will hurt Olive like he's hurt the rest. And I don't want him to. I don't know what to do." He sighed in frustration and stress.

"I think you should just stay out of it," Felicity said for the thousandth time.

"I know, Felicity," James muttered. "You've already said. But I can't. Poppy would decapitate me if I didn't do something anyway."

"Why are you so scared of a girl anyway? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for feminism. But, at the end of the day, you could take Poppy down with your little finger."

"Oh, Poppy's no ordinary girl, Felicity. So anyway, what are you going to do about James?" Beaton was Felicity's boyfriend who was in third year. and Felicity were going through a rough stage because Felicity had gotten wind of a story that James spent most of his time flirting with Jenna McCarthy, a tall, pretty blond haired girl in third year.

"I don't know," Felicity sighed. "There's nothing I can do really. I'll just have to trust him."

"And do you?"

"I trust him. I do _not _trust her."

"Don't worry about it. adores you. You have nothing to worry about." Felicity merely sighed. James fell back onto the armchair, exhausted.

* * *

The next day, at two o' clock in the afternoon, Olive, Albus, Gemma, Allison and Louis sat playing Exploding Snap in the Gryffindor common room.

"You know my name means 'peaceful'," Olive said, conversationally.

"Olive, you are probably the least peaceful person I know!" Albus answered in hysterics.

"I know," Olive agreed, quietly. "And Poppy's means 'red flower'. Cos, you know, it's so hard to figure that out for ourselves! Allie, yours means 'truthful warrior'."

"Ooh!" Allison replied, her cards singeing a few strands of her with an exploding snap. "I like that one!"

"Gem, you're 'precious stone'."

"I know, I looked it up on Google at home."

"What the hell's Google?" Allison asked, dealing out a new pack of cards.

"It's search engine on what we Muggles call the 'internet'," Gemma explained. "You can find _anything _on Google."

"What's internet?" Louis asked.

"It's a global network. It's basically multiple lines where you can access sites to find things out or for your entertainment, just from interconnected computers."

"What are computers?" Albus asked.

"Wow!" Gemma breathed. "It's hard being a Muggle born! You have to explain _everything_!

A computer is a machine that controls information according to a list of instructions."

Albus, Olive, Louis and Allison all stared at her.

"_Way _too complicated for my liking," Olive said, eventually.

"It's not really," Gemma said. "Not if you're around it all the time. It's just difficult to explain."

"Max's name mean 'greatest'," Olive said, becoming dissinterested with the internet/computer talk. "He is _definitely _the greatest!"

"Why don't you just go up and talk to him?" Gemma asked.

"Because I just can't!"

"What does my name mean?" Louis asked.

"Meaningful warrior," Olive replied, after a little think.

"I thought that was mine!" Allison shrieked, indignantly.

"No," Olive said, patiently. "You're _truthful _warrior."

"Where did you get these name meanings anyway?" Allison asked.

"A book that my mum gave me for my birthday once. I'll show it to you later."

"What does my name mean?" Albus asked, a little cautiously.

"Noble, I think. What time is it?"

"Quarter past two," Albus replied.

"Oh no! I was supposed to meet Rose in the library at two! She's going to kill me!"

"Why do you have to meet her in the library?" Louis asked, his cards exploding too.

"I don't know! She needs to talk to me about something! I'll see you later!" Olive sprinted her way out of Gryffindor common room and to the library.

There weren't very many people in the library. There were two sixth years, browsing in the Restricted Section, Ella and a Hufflepuff boy who's name she didn't know, Violet looking at a book on Herbology, Victoire talking animatedly to a Ravenclaw boy called Hugh Mitchell (wasn't she supposed to be going out with Teddy?) and finally, she spotted Rose. She was sitting in the corner of the library reading a book titled "Pride and Prejudice." She was just about to go over to her, when she saw something that surprised her. Scorpius Malfoy made his way over to Rose and started talking. And, what was even more surprising, was that Rose started chatting to him dynamically. It was very strange.

Olive hid behind a pillar on watched the two of them. Olive was an expert on flirting. She could pick out _all _the signs.

**OK, so far so good**, she thought. But then, Rose suddenly laughed a little _too _enthusiastically. And then- Olive gasped. Was that her hand on his shoulder just now? Suddenly, Rose did the most classic sign of flirting. She flicked her hair back with her right hand, her wrist displayed obviously.

"She is _so _flirting!" Olive whispered to herself. Suddenly, she heard a shout from behind her which almost made her scream out loud.

"Finnegan!"

She wheeled around and groaned loudly. Katie Wilson was standing behind her.

Katie Wilson and Olive Finnegan did not see eye to eye. Katie was everything Olive hated. She was self centered, rude, selfish, snobby and inconsiderate to everyone's feelings except her own. She latched onto Scorpius Malfoy like a puppy dog. It was rather sickening as well as pathetic. But, as much as Olive hated her, nobody hated her more than Mat did. Katie and Mat were sworn enemies from day one, and since Mat was her best friend, that added another reason why Olive hated her.

"What do you want Wilson?" Olive asked in a cutting voice.

"Nothing from _you_!" Katie replied, scathingly. "But what I do want to know is what is _she _doing near Scorpius?"

"_She _has a name!" She wanted to add that her name meant 'of the rose blossom' but she decided against this.

"Whatever. What's your sister doing with him?"

"Rose isn't my sister!"

"Fine whatever! Your cousin!"

"She's not my cousin either! She's my family friend!"

"Whatever! I didn't come here to get roped into this weird family tree of yours! What's she _doing _with him?"

"Talking. Why, is that against the law or something?" Katie, fed up with Olive, barged past her and strutted towards Rose and Scorpius. Scorpius didn't look too delighted to see her. Rose, even less so.

"Scorpius," Katie said, impatiently. "Let's go." Scorpius reluctantly got up, gave Rose a very apologetic look and went away with her. Olive took Scorpius's place beside Rose.

"Don't worry, Rose," she said. "She's just a cow! I can't _believe _her name means 'pure maiden'! Whatever!" Rose laughed, but she still looked upset.

"Are they not going out?" Olive asked.

"Not really," Rose replied. "She wants to go out with him but he doesn't like her."

"So, you like Scorpius then?" Rose looked like she was about to deny it, but then decided she couldn't be bothered, and nodded.

"Well, then you should get him," Olive replied, simply. She smiled. Rose knew that smile very well.

"Are you planning something?" she asked, excitedly.

"Two things," Olive replied. "And their names are Millie Brooks and Daphne Weasley!" Rose laughed, thinking of the wild possibilities of these two girls combined.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see!"

"Livs, don't go overboard, OK? I don't like Katie, but don't do anything too crazy and terrible!"

"Me?" Olive asked, as innocently as she could. "Rose, I'm the _peaceful _one!" The two girls laughed loudly, until Madam Pince came in and made violent shushing noises, making more noise than they were. They bit the inside of their mouths to stop themselves from snorting ferociously with laughter.


	7. Mother Hen Group

"So, you want me to push Katie Wilson into the Black Lake?" Millie, Daphne and Olive were sitting in the wings of the Quidditch Pitch again, except there was no Quidditch Practise to oversee.

"Well," Olive said, fiddling with the olive on her charm bracelet that Poppy had given her last Christmas. "That would be my ideal idea. But, sadly, we can't do that. It's against school rules, and probably the law."

"Wow," Daphne whistled. "I never knew that there was an evil side to you, Olive!"

"Poppy says I'm like a leopard. I'm a silent predator. A mixture of my mum and dad all in one!"

"OK," Millie said, throwing her Fanged-Frisbee up in the air. "So, what's the plan?"

"Wait a minute, Millie," Olive said, suddenly. "I thought you said Chrissie confiscated your Fanged-Frisbee."

"She did," Millie said calmly, still throwing it up in the air.

"So, how did you get it back?" Daphne prompted. "Chrissie isn't really the type of person to give it back so soon."

"I have my ways," Millie said, craftily.

"Anyway," Olive said, rolling her eyes. "Let's talk business."

"So, what do you want us to do?" Millie asked.

"We just have to throw Katie off Scorpius," Olive replied, simply.

"How?" Daphne asked. "Make her dislike him?"

"No," Olive said. "Then it's no fun! We won't get the satisfaction of her realizing that she lost Scorpius to someone else right before our very eyes!"

"So, what do we do?" Millie asked.

"We just make her lose him. It shouldn't be too hard. He's already getting frustrated with her."

"So," Millie said, putting her Fanged-Frisbee back into her pocket. "We need a plan."

* * *

"Olive! Stop!" About fourty-five minutes later, Olive and Poppy were in one of the corridors, sitting on the windowsill and having a girly chat like they did on Sunday mornings at home. Except they didn't have a comfy sofa, mugs of hot chocolate with marshamllows or their Golden Labrador, Rufus, who was just a puppy.

"What?" Olive asked, abruptly.

"Stop staring at Max!" Poppy hissed.

"I wasn't!" Olive lied indignantly, turning her head away from James, Max and Jason Mullins, who were taking it in turns to set their jeans on fire.

"Yes, you were!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"You're lying! Your blushing!"

"I am not!" Despite Olive's casual ways and cool exterior, she did have the unfortunate habit of blushing whenever she lied.

"Olive, don't even try and lie to me. I know you better than anyone. I'm not trying to lecture you. I'm just trying to look out for you. Max is trouble."

"You are not my mother! I can do what I want. And anyway, I don't care about Max Bailey!"

"Then why do you have a heart with MAX in written in the middle on your wrist?" Poppy raised her eyebrows as Olive hid the black, thic heart with her sleeve.

"Just be careful, Livs."

"I'm not a baby, Poppy! I'll be fine!"

After about five minutes, the boys all left and went down the corridor.

"Well," Poppy sighed, jumping off the windowsill. "I need to go too. I have loads of Charms homework to do. Do you want to come?"

"It's Ok," Olive said, admiring the view out of the window. "I'm just going to stay here for a few minutes."

She stayed perched on the window sill for several minutes, looking out at the Lake and the trees. Then, she got bored and got up to leave. She looked down at the floor as she turned a corner and then-bump!

The next thing she knew, she was on the floor. She looked up, brushing her long hair out of her eyes, and nearly died on the spot as she saw Max Bailey, smiling down at her.

"I am so sorry!" he said, putting his right hand out to help her up. She giggled anxiousy as she took it and let him lift her up.

"It's OK," she said. "_I'm _sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going!"

**_Thank goodness I blush when I'm lying and not when I'm embarassed! _**she thought.

"It's alright Olive," Max said, smiling widely.

"You know my name?" Olive asked, surprisingly.

"Of course I do! You're Poppy's little sister."

"Yeah. Unfortunately." Max laughed.

"You know I've seen you around school so often, but I've just never gotten the chance to talk to you," Max said, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah I know. I've seen you around as well."

Max and Olive stayed talking for quite a while. She was actually very surprised that he stayed for so long. She was quite anxious because he was a second year and he was a first year and she was worried that he might not want to be seen with a first year. But, he didn't seem that way at all. In fact, he didn't seem at all how Poppy had described him. He seemed really...nice.

"I have to go," he said, suddenly. "I was supposed to meet James by the Quidditch Pitch about ten minutes ago."

"Oh OK," Olive said. "Just be prepared. You might see two girls in the wings bent over a scroll of parchment with diagrams all over it. Just ignore them."

"Right," Max said, smiling uncertainly. "I'll be aware of that. See you later, Olive."

"Bye," Olive sighed as she watched him leave. She smiled broadly and ran all the way to Gryffindor Tower.

As she tore into the common room, she looked around for someone. Then finally, she saw Allie, Violet and her older sister in third year, Polly. She ran over to them.

"Guys!" she said, breathlessly. "You'll never believe what happened!"

"Breathe Olive," Violet said, looking amused.

"No seriously, I have to tell you something!" Olive sat down opposite Polly excitedly. "I actually talked to Max!"

"You what?" Violet asked.

"I talked to Max! For a full fifteen minutes!"

"Wait," Polly said, suddenly. "Max Bailey?"

"Yeah," Olive said.

"Olive, that's so good!" Allie exclaimed.

"Olive, I just want to warn you," Polly started. "He's no good. Take it from me."

"I know," Olive answered. "Poppy told you what he did to you. I'm really sorry."

"It's OK," Polly said. "But I'm just saying that you should be careful."

"I will," Olive assured her. "Don't worry. My sister has given me every warning about him that she possibly can. I know what I'm doing."

"OK," Polly finished. "Just remember, if you need any help with him, I'm here. Trust me, I'll probably know what you're talking about."

"OK, thanks Polly. But I think I'll be fine." Violet gave her a knowing look.

"I will!" Olive added indignantly.

**_Why don't Poppy, Violet and Polly start a mother hen group? _**she thought. **_I can look after myself._**


	8. Plans and Disappointment

"Finally!" Polly exclaimed two weeks later, as she looked at the notice board in the Gryffindor common room with Dominique. "The first Hogsmeade weekend! I've been craving a visit to Honeydukes since we came back!"

"Did someone say something about a Hogsmeade weekend?" Victoire called, stepping in through the portrait hole and into the common room, finishing a slice of toast daintily.

"Yeah, it's this weekend!" Polly said, excitedly.

"Just two days!" Dominique exclaimed.

"I wish we could go," Olive sighed to Gemma. "I need to buy a birthday present for Poppy."

"When's her birthday?" Gemma asked.

"Next Thursday."

"Oh, right. Why don't you ask someone in one of the older years to get it for you? You have loads of family friends, don't you?"

"Yeah I do. Well, I suppose I could ask Dominique or Victoire. Or Polly."

"Yeah," Gemma agreed. "Or Molly. She's Lucy's older sister, isn't she?"

"Yeah. I'll ask Victoire," Olive called.

Her auburn (with a glint of silver) haired, part-Veela cousin turned her head.

"Do you think you could please do me a favour and buy Poppy a birthday present when you're in Hogsmeade? I'll give you the money."

"I'm sorry," Victoire answered, in her strange half-French half-English accent. "But I promised Teddy that I'd spend my next Hogsmeade weekend with him. So, I'll be with him the entire time. I'm really sorry. I would, but I can't. I actually don't know when I'll be able to buy _my _present for Poppy."

"It's OK," Olive said. "Don't worry about it."

"Olive, I can get it for you if you want," Dominique offered. "And I'll get yours for her as well, Vic."

"Oh thanks so much, Dominique!" Olive exclaimed.

"Yeah, thanks!" Victoire added. "That would be really useful!"

"It's alright," Dominiqe said, modestly.

"OK," Olive said to Gemma. "Now that that's sorted out, we'd better go."

"Why are you so eager to get to Potions?" Gemma asked, suspiciously. "You hate Potions."

"I'm not eager," Olive said, turning red.

"Why are you blushing?" Gemma asked, promptly.

"I'm not!" Olive insisted, turning a more violent shade of red. "What's with the third degree?"

"Well, I'm just wondering why you want to leave ten minutes early for Potions. You're usually ten minutes _late_."

"Maybe I just want to turn over a new leaf."

"This wouldn't be a ploy to run into Max, would it?" Gemma asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No!" Gemma said, as indignantly as she could manage with a scarlet face. "Of course not!"

"Olive, you are a terrible liar."

"Hi!" Rosie and Mat came over from across the corridor.

"Olive, why did you leave like ten minutes early for Potions?" Mat asked.

"OK, maybe I just like being prompt!" Olive exclaimed.

"You?" Rosie asked. "Prompt?"

"She's trying to run into Max on purpose," Mat explained.

"What?" Olive tried to look innocent.

"Olive, I know you. Don't try and lie."

"OK, fine, maybe I was hoping to see him. We've been flirting for the past couple of weeks! I think it's going somewhere!"

"That's great!" Rosie said. They got into the Potion dungeons, which once belonged to Professor Snape as Rosie's parents had told her, but now belonged to Professor Stuart, who was liked by all the students. He was perfectly pleasant to all his students, except Olive. Olive did all the things that Professor Stuart didn't like. She talked in class, she passed notes, she came late and she never did her homework. She wasn't trying to act out, she just wasn't the ideal student for Professor Stuart. She wasn't bad in the other classes, but she really didn't like Potions.

Olive took a seat beside Rosie and Gemma at the back. Mat sat at the front with Victoria. The reason why she sat there was so that she could easily and flirt with Jack Martin, who sat in the front as well. Rosie and Gemma started chatting about what they were going to do for Christmas, which was about three weeks away. Olive sat and drew another heart on her wrist. The one from yesterday had faded.

"My mum's making all of us go skiing this year," Rosie said.

"I love skiing!" Gemma said. "You know what that is, don't you?"

"My mother is Muggle born, Gem. Don't worry, you don't have to explain things to _me_. Mum was trying to make us go two years ago, but Dad surprisingly convinced her to let us do it another time. Well, now is another time."

"Well, don't worry. Skiing is fun. We go a lot. But, we're not this year. We're going to Poland."

"Poland?"

"Yeah, Warsaw. You know because it's not cold enough in London at Christmas. Let's just go somewhere colder! My mum's big on travelling. She likes us to go places we haven't been to before."

"That's pretty exciting!" Rosie said. "Olive, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Olive said quickly, dropping her quill and shoving her shirt sleeve over her wrist as she raised her head. "Oh no," she said. "This is going to be a train wreck."

"What?" Gemma asked, as she and Rosie followed her gaze towards the door. Katie Wilson strutted into the dungeon with Michelle Adams, another Slythering girl. She looked around the room and clapped eyes on Mat and Jack, who were now engrossed in what appeared to be a hilarious conversation. She smiled maliciously, and went to sit on Jack's other side. She tapped his shoulder softly and batted her eyelashes at him flirtatiously.

"Oh dear," Rosie said. "I know how Mat feels." But Jack didn't seem very interested in Katie. He had a blank expression as she spoke, then turned around to face Mat again, who wiped the disgusted expression on her face as she looked at her. Jack had completely closed Katie out of the conversation. Her pale skin flushed, making her look slightly less attractive somehow.

"See, at least when I go red it works," Olive stated. "Serves her right."

"By the way, how's the plan going?" Gemma asked.

"Not so well actually," Olive answered. "Chrissie confiscated the Dungbombs that Millie, Daph and I were planning on using."

"Can't Millie just get them back?" Rosie asked. "She got her Fanged-Frisbee back."

"She was planning to," Olive explained. "But Chrissie's already given them to Caretaker Burrows. And he's a bit harder to work on. We need a Plan B. Daph's working on it."

Then, Proessor Stuart walked in and the class began.

After a particularly difficult lesson on trying to prepare the Draught of the Living Death, the students all trooped out of the morbid dungeon. Mat rushe over to Olive, Rosie and Gemma.

"How's Jack?" Olive asked, cheekily.

"He's fine," Mat said. "Did you guys see what happened with Katie."

"Yeah, we did!" Rosie said. "It was brilliant! Her face was priceless! I wish I had a camera."

"Yeah, and we've already established that she cannot pull off blushing," Olive said. Mat laughed, but then her expression seemed to fade.

"Livs," she said, cautiously. "I have to tell you something."

"What?" Olive asked, anxiously.

"Max is going out with Angelina Watson in third year," she said, slowly. "I'm really sorry." Olive felt something heavy plunge into the pit of her stomach.

"How do you know that?" she asked, quietly. She felt a huge lump in her throat.

"Jack told me in Potions."

"Oh."

"I'm so sorry, Livs," Mat said, putting an arm around her.

"It's OK," she said, trying to muster up a smile. She finally did, but it wasn't her usually sparky smile. "It's fine! It's no big deal!"

"Olive, he led you on," Gemma said. "Like you said, he's been flirting with you for the past two weeks!"

"Yeah, but it's just flirting, isn't it?"

"Yeah but Olive-"

"Sorry guys, I appreciate all your help, I really do, but I think I just need to be alone for a little while." And with that, she walked speedily across the corridor. But sadly, she didn't leave her great amount of sadness and bitter disappointment behind her.


	9. Broken Pieces

_Hello all! It's been a while since I left you one of these!_ _I just wanted to say that I am sorry for the confusion of who's child is who and who's related to whom. I will be drawing up a list, or a chapter or something, explaining the bizarre family tree clearly. I'm sorry I haven't replied to some of your reviews in a while, I've been tres busy. But now that it's the Easter holidays (yay!) you have nothing but my endless time and my undivided attention for the next three weeks! _

_By the way, I know that the new generation of Hogwarts are growing up rather quickly. Don't worry, I still remember that they are eleven and twelve year olds. But unfortunately, that kind of stuff still happens at that age!  
__I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Love2Love for predicting just how Max Bailey would act in the end! Enjoy! Please R&R! _

_Love,  
HL.  
xxxxx_

* * *

"I did tell you, Olive!"

"I know! I know you did!" Olive and Poppy sat in the Gryffindor common room at the end of the day, discussing what had happened. They were on the sofa and Olive was resting her head on Poppy's shoulder, sucking her thumb, and Poppy had her arm wrapped around her in comfort.

"Are you happy now, Poppy? You were right, and I was wrong. You win, OK?"

"Of course I'm not happy Olive," Poppy sighed. She kissed her forehead motherly. "You're upset and hurt. How could I possibly be happy? And the worst part is that you and Max were never involved, so I can't really kick his-"

The portrait hole opened with a bang as James strode in.

"I am going to _kill _Max!" he insisted, violently.

"Finally," Poppy sighed, exasperatingly. "I was wondering when you would show up and do your bit. You have to punch Max for me."

"Believe me I will!" James agreed. "I told him just the other night that I would kill him if he hurt Olive! He's such an idiot!"

"Guys," Olive muttered. "Calm down, it's really not a big deal. He hasn't done anything wrong."

"Olive, he led you on!" Poppy said, indigantly.

"Poppy, you're just out to get him," Olive pointed out. She turned to James. "And you're just...weird," she added.

"Olive, I'm not going to shout at him," James assured her, calming down a little. "I'm just going to talk to him. Just to ask why he did it. I mean, aren't you worrying about why he did it?"

"Kind of," Olive said, finally. "I mean, I did think he liked me."

"So did I," James said.

"Where is he anyway, James?" Poppy asked.

"He's coming in a minute," James answered.

"Oh OK then," Olive said, getting up abruptly. "In that case I'm going to go."

"Olive!" James and Poppy exclaimed, simultaneously.

"What? I don't want to be here when he comes! Anyway, I have to go and meet Hazel by the Lake." This was of course a lie, but nevertheless, Olive sprang out the door before her sister could notice her flushed cheeks.

She didn't actually need to meet Hazel by the Lake, but she would be there anyway. Sketching, as usual. For some reason, Olive found herself running there. She didn't know why, she just started sprinting. She ran for a few minutes, and then she stopped as she had a stitch. She rested by a windowsill, panting for dear life, and bending down to touch her toes too take care of her stitch. She heard a shrill, laughing voice.

**It's better not be Katie**, she thought to herself. **That is the last person I can tolerate right now**. But, Olive realized as the source of the laugh walked down the corridor, it was even worse than Katie Wilson, if that were even possible. Of course, it was Angelina Watson.

**Great**, she thought. She was coming down the corridor hand in hand with Max. Olive couldn't bear to watch. Thank goodness she wasn't out of breath anymore. Thinking quickly, she took off her pearl earring before Max and Angelina even clapped eyes on her, and pretended to be looking for it. As they got about a centimetre closer, in full view of Olive now, she staged finding it silently. She had no choice but to look up as Max and Angelina walked past her. Angelina was talking to him avidly and he was nodding, somewhat unenthusiastically. He turned around and suddenly made instant eye contact with Olive. She didn't know what to do. Should she smile? Give him a dirty look? Completely disacknowledge him? What? What was _he _going to do? Her question was answered within a millisecond. Olive noticed Max's eyes flash as he looked at her, and then he winked and turned around, still clutching Angelina's hand. He actually _winked_. Olive felt that deep plunge in her stomach again. She had just realized something, cursig herself as she thought it. Poppy had been right about him all along.

She put her earring back on and walked swiftly down the corridor. She wasn't even concentrating on where she ws going anymore. Her feet took over, while her mind wandered on the events that had just occured in the space of approximately six hours. In spite of herself, Olive's eyes started pricking and sting painfully with the tears that were about to fall. Olive wouldn't let them. She blinked violently, swallowed the lump in her throat and walked on. As she drew nearer to the Lake, she saw Mat and what looked like Jack in a close embrace. Ordinarily Olive would be excited to see her best friend with a boy. She'd probably have ran away laughing and told everyone in sight. But, strangely, as she saw them she didn't really care. She'd talk to Mat later anyway.

It was the beginning of November, so natually, as she stepped outside, the cold air bit at her face and thankfully was successful in making any more signs of possible tears disappear. She clapped eyes on Hazel, drawing smoothly and taking quick looks at the scenery every ten seconds. Olive had known Hazel for a while, and the only time she had seen without that far away, look that she shared with her mother and Ella, was whenver she was sketching or painting something.

Olive strode towards her, and sat down next to her. Hazel didn't sho any sign of noticing Olive for about five minutes.

"Hi," she said, softly. She put her pencil down for a second and looked at Olive intently.

"Hi," Olive said. "How long have you been here? It's freezing. You're not even wearing a jumper!"

It was true. Hazel was wearing her shirt tucked effortlessly into her skirt, which had smudge marks of charcoal on the cuffs, her Ravenclaw tie blew loosely in the cold, intent wind. Olive noticed that she had goosebumps all up her arms.

"I'm fine," Hazel replied, vaguely. "I don't really notice the cold when I'm sketching."

"Oh," Olive said. Strangely, she wasn't very eager to give an enthusiastic answers to Hazel's comments, but at the same time, she also felt that Hazel was the best company she'd had all day.

"I'm sorry about Max, Olive," Hazel suddenly said.

"How do you know?" Olive asked, expecting her to say that Rose had told her or something.

"Our whole year is talking about it," she replied, simply.

"Great," Olive muttered.

"If it helps, no one in our yeat thinks that highly of Max anymore. The girls aren't fawning over him anymore, and the boys aren't looking up to him pathetically. Everyone's on your side."

"Thanks. But, I don't think it's such a big deal, so other people shouldn't act like it is."

"It's always a big deal when a guy hurts you." Olive couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"Thank you, Hazel," she said, finally.

"I'm here for you, Olive," Hazel replied. And strangely, as Olive looked at her, she knew that that was enough. Maybe that's all she needed right now. A friend. But not one who's intention was to make Max's life a living hell. Not one who made excuses for her stupidly getting her hopes up. Not one who kept talking about how Max led her on. She just needed a friend that would be there for her. That was all. That was all she needed.


	10. Down With Mondays and Tracksuits

"It sucks being in a different house to you!"

"I know! But at least we can make our own private common room! "

It was a Sunday afternoon and Rosie and Olive were sitting in the Room of Requirement. Olive had walked past the door three times, asking the Room to conjure up a comfortable, warm room with a fireplace, a large selection of magazines, plushy chairs and quills and parchment.

"How did you find out about this room anyway?" Rosie asked.

"I overheard Poppy and James talking about it, and then I asked James what he was talking about and he told me."

"Really? James almost never tells people secret stuff. It makes him feel special or something."

"I know. But since the whole Max thing, he's been really nice. Apparantly, his parents and our parents used to come in this room all the time."

"Our parents and Max's parents?" Rose asked.

"No! Our parents and James', dope! As in my mum and dad, your mum and dad and his mum and dad."

"Oh. God, no wonder everyone else gets confused. So, how are you, Livs?"

"Well, I'm alive if that's what you mean. But, if what you mean is have I gotten over Max, then the answer is no. I am not OK."

"I'm so sorry," Rose whispered.

"It's OK. Anyway, it's not just me. Are _you _OK?"

"No," Rose replied, rubbing her red eyes. "But I've been crying too much. I have to try and get past it."

Within the past few days, it had been announced (courtesy of Matilda Riley and Allison Davies) that Katie and Scorpius were going out. Of course, Rose had been crushed when she heard the news. She had cried for almost a day, and then, when the weekend came around the corner, Olive and Rosie had both decided to isolate themselves from everyone, just for one day and mope and just talk about how much they hated boys. Olive had really been upset the past week as well, but she hadn't cried once. She had forbidden herself to shed a tear over the whole incident as she and Max had never really been involved. She and Rose realy were dressed for a lazy Sunday. Olive's change in style was even more drastic, as she usually wore clothes that were guaranteed to attract attention. But today, she was wearing navy tracksuit bottoms, a light blue T-shirt with a grey zip-up top over it with the hood far down over her head dramatically. Instead of her usal choice of boots, heels or pumps, she'd just thrown an old pair of cream espadrilles. Rose was wearing a worn out pair of jeans with rips in them, a maroon jumper that belonged to her father, which he never wore, and a pair of worn out pumps. Both of them had their hair scraped back into a ponytail and no makeup on.

"I have never worn a pair of tracksuit bottoms in my life," Olive commented, fingering the ends of the material.

"What?" Rose asked, disbelievingly. "How? Why?"

"Rose, thunk about the amount of high fashion products that there are in this world. The amount of major designers slaving away to create clothes for us. Gucci, Prada, Chanel, Moschino, Jimmy Choo. My mum has a monthly subscription to _Vogue_," she added, when Rose gave her a strange look.

"OK," she laughed. "What about them?"

"Think about what they do for us. I mean, why on earth would anyone punish themselves by wearing such unattractive items of clothing as _tracksuits_?" She spat out the last word as if it were some horrible, disgusting swear word. "Honestly! I just don't understand why anyone would do that to themselves! I have never come across a more distasteful piece of clothing in my life!"

"You're a strange girl, Olive," Rosie said, softly.

"I know."

"So, now we have two happy couples in our year. Katie and Scorpius and Mat and Jack. Great."

"You know only one of those couples is actually happy, Rose. Three guesses for which one."

* * *

Unfortunately, the next day was everyone's least favourite day: Monday.

"I hate Mondays," Mat moaned into her bowl of Cheerios the next morning.

"I know," Rose agreed. "Who invented the seven days of the week anyway? Why don't we just start the weekend with Tuesday and completely banish Mondays?"

"Well, that wouldn't really make a difference because then everyone would hate Tuesdays," Gemma pointed out.

"Yeah," Violet argued. "But the weeks would go by quicker."

"One of life's great unanswerable questions," Lucy said, surprising everyone.

"Since when have you been so dramatic?" Victoria aked.

"Since it was half past seven on a Monday morning and I couldn't think of anything else to say," Millie explained.

"Fair enough," replied Victoria, spreading marmalade on her toast.

"Where are the boys?" Allison asked bluntly, downing her goblet of pumpkin juice.

"They always wake up late, Allison," Lucy replied.

"Well, they're here now anyway," Olive said, looking towards the entrance of the Great Hall. Sure enough, Louis, Fred, Ryan, Albus, Paul and Jack strode in to the Dining Hall.

"Hi," Albus said, taking a seat beside Gemma.

"Morning," she replied. All the boys looked as though they'd been awoken from the dead. The dozen students on the Gryffindor Table continued in pointless, typical chatter that people usually have over breakfast.

* * *

"It's offical! I hate Mondays!" Alice Martin burst into the common room, dumped her bag on a nearby desk and slumped into an armchair opposite Lucy, who appeared to be writing a letter.

"Alice," she said, slowly. "_Everyone _hates Mondays. Mondays suck. That's just the way it goes. Why, what's wrong anyway?"

"Nothing. Just Slytherins being annoying."

"The Slytherins wouldn't have anything to do with the stinkbomb they put in your cauldron, would it?"

"Where do they get stinkbombs anyway?" Alice grumbled.

"Sorry, that's kind of my uncle's fault," Lucy apologized, rolling up her parchment. "OK dude, do you want to stop moaning and come to the Owlery with me? I need to send this letter to my Mum and Dad."

"Fine," Alice agreed, getting up. "But only if you stop saying "dude". This isn't America!"

"Sorry dude," Lucy said, cheekily. "My mum says it all the time at home and it's kind of caught on."

On the way to the Owlery, Lucy and Alice passed Mat and Jack in the corridor.

"Ew," Alice muttered. "That's my brother!"

"Awkward!" Lucy gigled. "I can't believe he's going out with Mat Riley!"

"Mat's cool," Lucy said, leading them on. "She's like the only fun person to sit beside in History of Magic! Apart from you, of course." She added the last part hastily.

"Nice save," Alice laughed. "I know she's cool. It's just...weird. I don't know, I just never thought that Jack would get a boyfriend so soon."

"Well, have you looked at him?" Lucy asked, incredulously. Alice grimaced.

"Eww! Dude, he's my brother!" she said.

"Sorry," Lucy apologized. "I keep forgetting."

"Let's just go to the Owlery," Alice said, turning away from the apparantly happy couple. "Apparantly, people seem to think that the corridors aren't public anymore!" Lucy giggled.


	11. Packing

"I can't believe you're going home for Christmas!"

It was the last night before the Christmas holidays and Olive was pulling out all the contents of her trunk and chucking them every which way.

"I literally just got an owl from my mum," Olive called from inside her trunk. She found what looked like an old, crushed box of half-eaten chocolates. "Chocolate Cauldron?" she offered.

"No thanks," Allison said. "But, why do you have to leave at such short notice?"

"My dad just decided that he wanted us all to spend some time in Wexford to see our Uncle Fergus. Do you have my grey cardigan?"

"But why would you want to spend your Christmas in the middle of Ireland herding sheep or something?" Allison asked, tossing the thin, dark grey cardigan to Olive.

"Hey!" Olive said, pulling herself out of her trunk abruptly and catching her cardigan slickly as she wheeled around. "I'm half-Irish! Watch it!"

"Sorry," Allison replied, apologetically. "I keep forgetting. But now you're going to Wexford, Gemma's going skiing, Vic's going back to her dragon farm and Daph's going home, it's just going to be me and Violet."

"Well, that'll be fun," Olive replied, absent-mindedly.

"Yeah, but it'll be quiet," Allie said, staring out of the window and watching the gentle, white snowflakes fall.

"I promise I'll write to you everyday," Olive said, leaving her clothes-strewn area to come and sit on Allie's bed.

"Hey, do you know if James is staying here for Christmas?" she asked, innocently.

"No, he's going home. Why?"

"No reason. Just wondering."

"OK. So, do you want to help me with all this packing or what?"

"Oh no. I love you, Livs, but I hate packing. I'm going to supper! Bye. Have fun!" Olive scowled as Allie winked at her and skipped out the door.

* * *

"Millie, whatever you're trying to do, don't!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Millie and Rose were busy packing in Ravenclaw Tower. (Well, Rose was packing. Millie was bewitching paper aeroplanes and making them fly around the room to purposefully annoy Rose's cute little china Santa Claus.)

"Pack!" Rose ordered her.

"I am packing!" Millie lied. "In fact, I've finished! Can I go to supper now?"

"No."

"Please? I'm hungry!"

"I said, no! When you have packed all your clothes and half your books, then you can go to supper!"

"That's so mean!" Millie moaned, jumping off her trunk that was sitting on her unmade bed and opening it.

"Tough," Rose answered sternly. "That's the way the cookie crumbles."

"Who said anything about cookies?" Millie asked, looking confused.

"It's just a saying, Millie." About half an hour later, Rose had completely finished her packing.

"How are you doing?" she asked, turning around to face Millie, who was trying to lift the heavy trunk off the bed. Rose giggled and got out her wand.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!_" The trunk, which had CB engraved on the front of it, floated off the bed and landed gently onto the floor. Then, Millie and Rose caught that familiar wave of perfume, then on cue, Mat walked into the room.

"Hi!" she said, jauntily.

"Who put the spring in your step?" Rose asked, smiling.

"Who do you think?" Millie asked.

"Yep, that's right Mills! Same person as always! And I just found out that he is also staying at Hogwarts for Christmas!"

"That's great, Mat!" Rose said. She turned to face Millie again. "Mills, _now _you can go to supper."

"Thank you!" she replied, sprinting out.

"Why aren't you going home for Christmas anyway?" Rose asked.

"Mum, Dad, Freya and Daniel decided to go to Portugal without me!"

"Seriously?" Rose asked.

"Well, not exactly. They asked me if I wanted to go and I said know because everyone likes staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. But, apparantly people have chosen this year to clear off to their families!"

"Sorry, but my mum finally persuaded my dad to go skiing, so this year we all have to go!" Rose giggled. "My dad on skis! The sight is going to be priceless! I have to bring a camera!"

Mat lauged. "So, is Allison staying?"

"Yeah, she is. Not many people from Gryffindor are staying though."

"Oh well. At least Olive and Violet will be here."

"Oh, Olive won't be here. She got an owl from her mum earlier and they're all going to Wexford to see their Uncle Fergus."

Mat groaned. "So, it's just Violet from Gryffindor then. From here, Louisa and Rhea."

"Oh, and Ryan isn't going home anymore. His parents are going to California."

"Yes!" Mat celebrated. "God, it's a bit dull without him around!" Rose laughed.

"Do you need help packing?" Mat asked her.

"I'm done," Rose stated, making her own trunk float off her bed.

"You freak," Mat stated, amazed.

* * *

"So, is Max still spending Christmas with you guys?"

Poppy was in James' dormitory helping him pack his trunk for tomorrow.

"Yeah," James replied, tossing his Quidditch robes into his trunk. "Why?"

"No reason. Just, now I'm glad I have an excuse not to come to your house. I'll be in Ireland."

"Oh yeah, bring me back some sheep, will you?" Poppy shoved him as he laughed.

"Shut up! I'm half-Irish!"

"I was just joking! Sorry! Seriously, have fun. Anyway, why do you not want to come over if Max is there?"

"James, who's my sister?"

"So? Olive doesn't have to come too."

"Yeah, but I'd rather not stay in the same room as the guy who hurt my sister's feelings."

"OK. Are you spending the whole Christmas in Ireland?"

"No, just a week. James, that's not packing! That's chucking!"

"Yeah, well your version of packing takes too long!"

"You are lucky that I'm here! I have packing of my own to do, you know!"

"No you don't. You said you finished it an hour ago."

"Great, _now _you listen to what I say!"

* * *

The next morning, everyone stood in a great huddle in the Gryffindor common room with their heavy trunks. Everyone who was going home for Christmas, that is. Olive stood in the corner giving Allie a hug. In another corner, Daphne was getting exasperated with Fred because he had forgotten the diagram to Operation Three. Poppy were saying goodbye to James and Max (she gave James a hug and Max and unneccessarily firm handshake), and Gemma and Albus were sharing a huge hug. As soon as Olive saw Max going to say goodbye to Jimmy Slater, she said a final goodbye to Violet and Allison and went over to Poppy.

"Well," Allison sighed. "Looks like it's just you and me, Vi."

"I know," Violet answered. "It's going to be weird."

"Why aren't you going home anyway?"

"Well, Dad has to stay here to take care of the people in Gryffindor anyway, so me and Polly decided that we might as well stay here."

"So, does that mean your mum is going to be on her own?"

"Oh no! Mum's coming here for Christmas! God, as if we would leave her on her own at Christmas!"

"Oh OK! Wow, how'd you guys swing that?"

"Well, Mum was really good friends with Macmillan when they were here. So, he said that it would be fine."

"Wow, your whole family's going to be here then!"

"Yeah, and unfortunately, you are going to be roped into spending a lot of time with us!"

"Well, it looks like it's going to be a fun Christmas!" Allison laughed.


	12. Welcome Back

Three weeks later, Olive shifted her trunk up the rotating staircases towards Gryffindor Tower. She stopped for a second to catch her breath.

"I should not have worn boots today," she panted, looking down at the tanned cowboy boots that she had got from her mother for Christmas. Suddenly, she heard quick footsteps and then a familiar voice.

"Hi Olive!" She turned around. It was Allison.

"Hi!" she panted, collapsing on her rather than hugging her.

"Whoa," Allison said, swaying under Olive's weight. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

"Yeah, it was good! That was the first time we'd gone to Uncle Fergus' house, it's so cool! How was yours?"

"It was good. Me, Violet, Ryan and Jack just kind of hung around. Do you need some help, by the way?"

"Oh, yes please." Allison and Olive dragged the trunk the rest of the way there. Then, just as they got up the last staircase, Allison gasped.

"Oh, I forgot to ask Mat for my bracelet back! She's by the Lake, I have to go. Can you manage your trunk?"

"Yeah, it's fine. The portrait hole's just there. Tell Mat that I said hi and I'm going to come and see her soon."

"OK," Allison called, rushing back down the stairs again. Olive dragged her trunk along the floor. As she got to the portrait hole, she placed it down on the floor. She stood up straight, ready to give the Fat Lady the password, but she wasn't facing the Fat Lady. Instead, she was facing a small, stout man with a red beard, dressed in a suit of armour, armed with a sword and sitting on a fat, dapple-grey pony.

"Errm.." Olive stuttered. "Who are you?"

"I," the knight-person started proudly. "lady, am Sir Cadogen. Stand fast and fight!"

"Err," Olive said again. "Where's the Fat Lady?"

"I say, the Fat Lady is still on her long voyage in spirit of the Christmas festivities. She has had to extend her trip for some time. Now, none of this meaningless chatter. Draw your weapon, O Lady!"

"I'm fine thanks," Olive said, slowly. "Jingle Bells."

"None of this meaningless gibberish! Fight, you dirty coward!"

"It's not gibberish! I'm giving you the password!"

"Incorrect password, you brainless dimwit!" Olive was affronted by his rudeness, but said nothing of it as she wanted to get inside without a fight.

"But that was the password when I left!" she argued instead.

"At the Fat Lady's departure, I decided to change it!"

"Well, what is it?"

"Aah! I'm afraid, you'll have to think hard and find the answer, even though that'll take another century!"

"Hey! Well, how am I supposed to get in if I don't know the password?"

"Well fair-haired maiden, I could feel obliged to give you the new password. But only, if you face me in battle."

"What? I'm not going to fight you!"

"Well, then I'm afraid that's that, you cowardly dunce!"

"I have to get in!"

"I refuse to give in to an infant." Olive groaned loadly in raged. As she opened her mouth, a load of colourful language poured out. Sir Cadogen wasn't from this century, but he could still tell what she was saying from the tone of voice she was using. He was so shocked that he fell of his pony, and became even more unreasonable when he eventually hoisted himself up again pompously.

"Hi Olive! What's going on?" Olive wheeled around, already mentally thanking whoever it was. She saw that it was Ryan.

"Hi Ryan!" she exhaled. "I'm sorry, but he won't give me the passsword!"

"Oh yeah," Ryan said. "It changed. Scurvy." Sir Cadogen looked very disappointed, but reluctantly swung forward. Olive scowled at him and she walked in with Ryan.

"Thank you," she said to Ryan as they walked in. "I was standing out there for ten minutes because the stupid idiot wouldn't let me in!"

"Yeah," Ryan asked. "He's like that. He's Violet's worst nightmare. Olive laughed. Violet could _never _remember the password. She said goodbye to Ryan and dragged her trunk up the stairs. When she got into her dormitory, Violet, Gemma and Daphne were sitting on their beds.

"Hi!" they all chorused.

"Hi!" Olive replied, heaving her trunk onto her bed and then collapsing next to it.

Olive noticed that Gemma was wearing a brand new necklace. It was sleek and silver, and had a small, silver heart for a pendant.

"Nice necklace, Gem!" she said, walking forward to take a closer look.

"Thanks!" Gemma replied. "It was a Christmas present from Albus."

"Albus gave you this?" Olive asked surprisingly, as she took careful hold of the tiny pendant and studied it. Suddenly, she gasped loudly and her eyes widened in amazement.

"What?" Violet asked, alarmed.

"This is real silver!" Olive exclaimed, in a squeaky voice.

"It is?" Violet gasped, grabbing the heart and yanking Gemma's neck along with it.

"Are you two trying to strangle me or something?" Gemma choked.

"It is real silver!" Violet shrieked. "Wow, someone likes you!"

"No, he doesn't!" Gemma insisted, going red.

"Oh, come on!" Olive persisted. "The guy gave you a real silver necklace! He obviously likes you!"

"No, he doesn't!" Gemma repeated.

"How did he afford this anyway?" Olive asked, still goggling at it.

"Hello?" Violet said. "He's Harry Potter's son. He's loaded!"

"Guys, stop making such a big deal out of this," Gemma moaned, snatching her chain away.

"But it is a big deal!" Olive exlaimed. "How can you not be excited about this?"

"Because he obviously doesn't see it as a big deal, so what's the point?"

* * *

"So, did you send the necklace to Gemma in the end?" James asked Albus, as they shifted their trunks up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.

"Yeah," Albus replied. "Mum helped me pick it out and I sent it to her on Christmas Eve."

"Why did you get her such a big present anyway?"

"Because she's my friend."

"So? I got Poppy socks for Christmas."

"Well, I'm more generous than you are."

"No, I'm more frugal than you are."

"Frugal? You bought yourself a new Broom Cleaning Kit for Christmas and you got me a Butterbeer."

"That was really good, Butterbeer! Hard to find!"

"We live down the road from a pub, James! I could walk down the street and get one in five minutes!"

"Someone's ungrateful for their present!"

"Oh no, I'm not. Anyway, it topped the last present you gave me."

"Now, what is wrong with a nice block of cheese for Christmas?"

"It was way past it's sell-by date."

"You're way past your sell-by date," James muttered, pathetically.

"Nice comeback James," Albus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. With one final heave, the two boys got their trunks up their staircases.

"Who's the old geezer?" James asked.

"What?" Albus asked, his head between his legs, trying to regain his breath.

"Look," James said, nudging him. Albus got up and saw who James was talking about.

"And what's with the fat pony?" Albus asked.

"Stand fast and fight, you scurvy dogs!" Sir Cadogen yelled, brandishing his sword.

"Scurvy?" Albus asked, looking confused. "What does that mean?" Sir Cadogen sighed in frustration and swung forwards.

"What?" James said. "What's the password?"

"I dunno," Albus said. "Maybe it's 'mean'?"

"Scurvy is the ward, you dence braggarts!" Sir Cadogen yelled.

"Sorry!" James exclaimed. "What fly flew into your soup today?" He and Albus walked inside. They saw Ryan and Louis coming down the boys' staircase and Violet busying herself taking down Christmas banners that said "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Polly!" Ryan and Louis went over to James and Albus.

"Why do I have a feeling that this is going to be a weird term?" Albus said, as Ryan and Louis drew nearer.

"Welcome back," Ryan said, clapping him on the back.


	13. OK! More Evil Plans

A month later, Mat was sitting on a comfy sofa with Olive in the Room of Requirement, both filing their nails carefully. Mat was talking to Olive intently, most likely about Jack, but Olive was too busy thinking about what to get Mat for a present, which was next Saturday.

"Olive? Hellooo? Olive?"

"What?" Olive said, sitting up abruptly.

"You've been dazed out for like the past ten minutes," Mat explained. "You looked like Hazel."

"Sorry," Olive apologized. "Just thinking."

"About?" Mat persisted. She never let vague comments slide.

"Just about...what we're going to do about Scorpius and Katie," she answered off the top of her head.

"Oh," Mat replied, slightly surprised by the random answer. "Well, to be honest. We don't have to do much. I heard he's planning on dumping her soon."

"Yeah, but that's no fun! I want to crush that filthy, stuck-up, two-faced toe-rag! How do you know that anyway?"

"Max told me in Transfiguration."

"You were talking to _Max_?" Olive asked in outrage, filing the edge of one of her fingernails a little to roughly and the sharp pain stung momentarily, but Olive ignored it.

"Yeah, Livs. I was talking to Max in our Transfiguration class," Mat replied, sarcastically. "I'm talking about Max Steinbeck, you nutter. So don't put on your betrayed face just yet."

"Oh," Olive said, softening. "Sorry."

"It's OK. So anyway, Scorpius wants to break up with Katie."

"Please! As if, Katie will let him! The moment she senses him loosening, she'll just cling on tighter!"

"Well, she can't force him to go out with her forever."

"I suppose."

"By the way, did you hear that Max and Angelina broke up?" Mat suddenly asked. Olive hesitated.

"You're talking about Max Bailey now, right?"

"Yes!"

"Oh. Cool." Olive sank back onto the sofa casually.

"Cool?" Mat repeated. "That's all you're going to say?"

"Well, what am I supposed to say? Besides, it doesn't make any difference whether he's still going out with Angelina or not. I'm not going to do anything about it. Anyway, I don't care about him and his love life. It's his business."

"OK," Mat replied, not fooled. There was a small pause.

"So, why did they break up anyway?" Olive asked, in an attempt at a casual tone. Mat laughed softly.

"Max broke up with her because he 'wasn't really into it'." Olive scoffed disgustedly.

"I'm so glad I'm over him!" she said, extremely unconvincingly.

After about half an hour of more chatting, Olive and Mat decided not to waste their Saturday hiding out in the Room of Requirement, so they said goodbye and went ot their individual common rooms. OOlive walked slowly up to Sir Cadogen.

"When is the Fat Lady coming back?" she asked, darkly.

"Incorrect password," he answered annoyingly, promptly screeching with laughter at his unamusing joke.

"Scurvy," she answered, rolling her eyes. Sir Cadogen swung forwards, still shaking with laughter.

Olive walked into the common room, which was basically made up of first and second years at this moment in time. Max saw her and smiled, but she simply walked past him coolly and sat with the people that were there in her year: Louis, Ryan, Jack, Allison, Violet, Paul and Victoria. Olive sat in what appeared to be an empty armchair, but shot out of it abruptly. She felt like she had just sat in someone's lap, but there was no one in the chair. Everyone around her started laughing.

"What's going on?" she asked uncertainly, not sure whether to laugh along or not. She looked back at the chair just in time to see a hand peeling...something off and then, there was Albus.

"What..?" Olive stuttered. Albus grinned and got out of the chair, holding something in his hand. If Olive had to describe what it was, she supposed she would say that it looked like solid air sewn together, or woven water.

"We've been waiting for someone to do that!" Ryan laughed.

"Wow," Olive breathed, still confused. "You guys must be really bored then. Seriously, what's going on? What is that, Albus?"

"Sorry Olive," Albus replied. "I was just showing them what I got for Christmas from my dad. It's his old Invisiblility Cloak. It belonged to my grandfather a while ago as well."

"You got an Invisibility Cloak for Christmas?" Olive asked, amazed.

"Yeah. James got the first Snitch my dad ever caught, so I got the Invisibility Cloak."

"Wow," Olive said again, running her fingers through the peculiar material. "It's so cool! Can I try it on?"

"Yeah sure," Albus said, handing her the cloak. Olive wrapped it around herself. It didn't really feel any different to her other than she was now seeing everyone through a thin material and...well, she was warmer.

"Can you guys see me?" she asked.

"Well, it is called an Invisibility Cloak for a reason Olive," Ryan said. "What do you think?"

"Oh my God, that's so cool. I'm invisible! OK, here you go Albus." She took the cloak off and handed it back to Albus. Suddenly, Gemma rushed down from the girls' staircase holding a thick magazine. As she got nearer, she slammed it down on the small table in front of them. Olive knelt and peered at the cover, which said OK! on it. Then underneath this strange title, there was a very glamorous looking woman with long, black hair and beside her was a handsome man with a rough, rugged beard.

"Errm," Ryan said, confused. "What is that, Gemma?"

"It's OK! magazine," she answered.

"Yeah," Paul went on. "We can see that. But why are you showing us?"

"Remember when I said I would bring you guys a picture of Angelina Jolie from home to show you?"

"Yeah," Louis said, remembering that morning at breakfast.

"Well.." Gemma took the magazine and swivelled it around so that the boys could see it the right way. Ryan grabbed it and took a closer look.

"Wow," he, Paul, Louis and Jack chorused wistfully.

"_That _is Angelina Jolie?" Albus asked, peering to get a closer look at the picture.

"Yep," Gemma answered.

"Never mind her!" Olive said, grabbing the magazine.

"Hey!" Ryan yelped.

"Who is _that_ piece of work?" Olive demanded, pointing to the man.

"Oh," Gemma said, coming closer. "That is Brad Pitt."

"Hel-lo," Allie said, sliding beside Olive to take a look at this Brad Pitt.

"Guys," said Gemma, slowly. "You know they have kids together?"

"So?" Ryan, Allie, Paul, Olive and Jack said simultaneously.

"OK, fine then. Jack, you have a girlfriend."

"I know," Jack replied. "And she's even prettier than that Angelina Jolie."

"It's OK Jack," said Olive, still studying Pitt. "She's not here."

"I'm being serious!" Jack insisted.

"Aw, you're so cute!" Gemma gushed.

"Vi," Olive asked, turing to Violet. "What do you think of Brad Pitt?"

"He's alright," Violet said simply, peering over Olive's shoulder. "He's a bit too posey for me though."

"Alright, I think it's our turn for the magazine now," Ryan decided, snatching it away from Olive and Allie. James walked over to them.

"What are you guys looking...??" he started, but trailed off when he caught sight of the magazine. "_Who _is that?" he asked, grabbing it from Ryan and goggling at the front cover.

"Doesn't _anyone _want me to look at this magazine?" he said, frustratingly.

"Fine," James said, slipping it back to him. "You have it. I can just look at Allie instead, since she looks exactly like her, except better." Allie giggled and twiddled with a strand of her hair. James winked at her, as Olive mimed being sick.

"What is with all the cheesy comments today?" she muttered when she was finished.

"Shut up!" James said.

"Tell me you are not falling for that one," she went on, turning to Allie now. "Because if you are, then all my respect for you will evaporate instantly."

"Shut up!" James said again. He caught sight of Albus staring at him and shaking his head slowly.

"What?" he asked.

"You're weird," Albus replied, simply. Olive laughed. James sighed and with one last flashing smile at Allie, he departed.

"Where are Fred and Daph?" Olive asked after a while.

"I don't know," Paul yawned. "They're off somewhere, planning something evil." Olive paused and thought.

"Speaking of evil plans.." she started slowly, and began plotting with her friends the best way to unclench the tight claws that Katie Wilson had deep into Scorpius Malfoy by force.


	14. Breaking Apart

"I can't believe he gave you real pearl earrings for your birthday!" Rose and Mat were sitting in the Ravenclaw common room, gawking over the earrings Jack had just given her.

"I know!" Mat replied. "My birthday was like a month ago! But he said he had to save up to buy them for me. I feel bad."

"They were a present," Rose pointed out. "You're not supposed to feel bad."

"I know, but I do."

"Did you show them to Olive?"

"Yeah. I think she's still in shock. Speaking of Olive, she and I were walking around on the QUidditch pitch, and all of a sudden James and Max turned up wanting to do some extra practise. We tried walking out discreetly, but Max came rushing over and asked to talk to Olive privately. So, I had no choice but to leave her with him!"

"Max and Olive?" Rose asked, her eyes widening."

"Yeah," Mat replied. "I wonder what he's saying to her."

* * *

"Olive, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong." Olive and Max were sitting in the Quidditch stands and talking. Max was looking directly at Olive, but she was determinedly looking at James who was flying in the air and practising with his father's Snitch.

"No," Max disagreed. "I did. I led you on. And I know that you think less of me now."

"I don't think of you," Olive lied, coldly. Luckily, being the beginning of March, the cold, icy wind was keeping her cheeks from going red. Max went a little pink though, but nevertheless tried to look unabashed.

"I know you're angry Olive-"

"I'm not angry!" she interrupted, angrily. "There's nothing to be angry about! It's a free country and you're free to do whatever you want. It's none of my business what goes on in your love life."

"Actually," Max said, cautiously. "It is your business, because you were the only thing going on in my love life for a long time." Olive felt a little leap in her stomach at these words. She wanted to say that she felt the same way, but she controlled herself.

"Were?" she said, instead.

"Well, yeah. I sort of didn't do anything about it because you're Poppy's little sister and Poppy is James' best friend and James is my best friend. So, I just didn't want anyone to get hurt. But, of course, I ended up hurting you. I didn't mean to lead you on, Olive."

When Olive didn't say anything in reply, Max went on.

"I know some people must have said a lot about me, Olive. But you have to believe, whatever they might've said, that that is the truth. Please believe me."

"I don't know if I can believe anything you say," Olive replied, after a pause.

"That's the truth, though."

"So, you're saying you didn't do anything about your feelings for me because you were scared of my sister?"

"No, I'm not scared of her. It's just that she said-"

"Max, I've lived with poppy all my life! Do you think I listen to anything she says?"

"But it's different! You're her sister!"

"OK, even if that is true, you didn't have to go after another girl as a reaction. But you did anyway!"

"I know! I'm sorry, Olive, but I was confused and I knew that Angelina liked me so I just sort of went for it. I didn't know what else to do! But, I broke up with her because I still had feelings for you."

There was another long pause.

"Even if all you're saying is true, you not going after me because you were scared of my older sister who is the same age as you isn't a good enough excuse for me. And if you really liked me, you wouldn't just give up like that and then go after another girl."

"Olive, you have to believe that there is nothing going on with me and Angelina anymore."

"I know. And there's nothing going on between you and I either." Max exhaled loudly.

"Olive I'm sorry," Max breathed into the cold air.

"I'm sorry too," she replied. "I'm sorry that my sister was right about you." She blinked away stinging tears threatening to come, got up and slowly started to walk away.

"Olive," Max said. She stopped momentarily.

"Please, won't you just give us a chance?" Olive turned around to face him again.

"I gave you a chance Max," she whispered softly into the wind.

"And you blew it." And with that, she turned around again, and walked away from Max and out of the Quidditch pitch as quickly as possible, so that he wouldn't see the tears falling down her face.

* * *

"Why did you bring me here, Scorpius?" Katie and Scorpius stood by the Lake, hands clasped. Scorpius didn't answer her question for a couple of minutes. Before he did so, he let go of Katie's hand abruptly and started skimming stones. He was going over and over in his head and wondering if it was the right thing to do. But then he thought of Rose. Her face, her laugh, her hair. He thought of the way he felt whenever he heard her voice, and decided it was the right thing to do. He dropped the remaining stones an turned to face Katie. She was running her long, black hair between her fingers. Scorpius took hold of both her hands graciously and looked at her.

**_She's so pretty_**, he thought to himself. **_But Rose seems so much prettier to me. _**He took a deep breath.

"Katie," he started. "This is not going to be easy, but I need to tell you something."

"What?" she asked, harshly.

"Well, I don't thnk it's working with you and me. I'm really sorry, but I think we should break up." Katie was silent for a few moments. Her already pale skin was becoming even paler, which Scorpius didn't even think was possible. Then suddenly, she dropped his hands abruptly.

"This is about Rose, isn't it?" she asked.

"No," he part-lied, somewhat irritated. "It's not about Rose. It's about me. And it's about you too. I just don't think it's going to work."

"Why not?"

"Because I just don't see you in that way. We're two completely different people. Also, I just don't like the way you treat people."

"Excuse me?"

"You just look down your nose at everyone as if you're better than them, you treat people like dirt and you don't seem to care about anyone but yourself." He winced. It was harsh, but it had to be said.

"I see the way you treat people," he went on. "Louis, Albus, Olive, Rose, Mat, Allison."

"Why do you care how I treat _them_?" Katie asked, as if they were vermin.

"Because their my friends. And you're not even acting like my friend, so I don't see how we can possibly be more than that."

"OK, Scorpius, if you promise to give us another chance, I promise I'll stop. I'll change."

"Katie, we both know that's not true. You're a not a nice person. I'm sorry, but I have to be honest with you. I don't even think you wanted me, you just didn't want Rose to have me."

"That's not true, Scorpius!"

"Isn't it? Well, the whole time you've been going out all you've done is talk about Rose behind her back. I'm sorry Katie, but it's over." Scorpius stared at her for a few moments, and then walked away from the Lake slowly.

It was very peculiar. Olive and Scopius were both in the exact same place: at Hogwarts. And at this exact moment, one heart was breaking apart, but the other felt like it was finally being put back together.


	15. Lessons Learnt

"Poppy!"

Poppy nearly screamed as her beloved sister screamed her name in the third floor corridor as she was about to walk into Transfiguration.

"What?" she snapped.

"What are you getting Mum for her birthday?"

"I don't know!" Poppy replied angrily, clutching her heart. "Is that what you nearly gave me a heart attack for?"

"Sorry," Olive replied. "I just don't know what to get her!"

"Get her socks," put in James, who was standing beside Poppy.

"Not everyone buys people socks for presents, James!" Poppy said, exasperatingly. "As much as I love the pair with the Snitches all over them that you got me for Christmas, I have to think of something else for Mum."

"Aren't those Dad's?" Albus enquired from beside Olive.

"What?" Poppy demanded, as James gave Albus an extremely filthy look. "You gave me a pair of your dad's old socks for Christmas?"

"Well..." James stuttered. "You could sell those and get a ton of money!" Poppy gave him a scornful look.

"Speaking of which," James said, changing the subject. "Al, you know Dad's coming here to give a talk to all the Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons today."

"Yeah I know," Albus replied. "He sent me an owl about it last week."

"You know," Olive put in thoughtfully. "He's right about the money. You could make a fortune from those socks!"

Poppy scowled. "I can't _believe _you gave them to me for Christmas!" she hissed.

"I washed them before I gave them to you!" James said, indignantly.

"Oh, lucky me!" Poppy replied, sarcastically. "I get my best friend's dad's _clean _used socks!"

"Maybe I'll get Mum fake nails!" Olive suddenly burst out.

"No Livs," Poppy replied. "That's what you got her last year."

"Oh yeah," Olive said, deflating.

"OK," Poppy sighed. "We need to get to Transfiguration. Professor Gaultier will rip us apart."

"No she won't," James insisted, following Poppy. "She's my aunt, remember?"

"Oh yeah. You owe me a Christmas present by the way."

"I washed them!" James argued.

"Well we'd better get to Herbology," Olive commented, as James and Poppy disappeared from sight.

"Why?" Albus asked, smiling. "Mr Longbottom will rip us apart?" Olive laughed.

"No, I just want to get a good greenhouse." Olive and Albus walked to Herbology and managed to arrive on time and get a good greenhouse with Allison and Violet.

* * *

Four hours later, Olive, Albus and Gemma walked to Defence Against the Dark Arts, the last class of the day.

"Looking forward to hearing your dad speak to us?" Gemma asked.

"I don't know," Albus said, uncertainly. "I suppose I kind of am. But, it's going to be a bit weird."

"I've never actually heard the story from your dad's point of view before," Olive said, thoughtfully.

"I have," Albus said. "It's basically same thing just without all the exaggerations." The three of them walked into the Transfiguration classroom, Albus a little more slowly, not knowing what to expect. The first thing they saw was Professor Hennessy sitting in her usual chair, tapping her wand slowly on her desk, and standing nearby was the great Harry Potter. The students all trooped in, looking immediately interested as they clapped eyes on Harry. As Albus walked forwards and sat inbetween Paul and Olive, Harry saw him and winked.

"Embarassed?" Olive asked, leaning over to him.

"Not really," Albus replied. "It's just a bit weird seeing my dad standing in front of a group of students."

"Well, don't forget your dad was part of a group of students once."

"Look," Albus said, pointing at the small, murky wardrobe at the end of the classroom. "That's the wardrobe where my dad faced a Boggart in the shape of a Dementor when he was in third year."

"Your dad's Boggart is in the form of a Dementor?" Olive shuddered. "I've never seen them but I've heard about them. They suck all the happiness out of you until you're left with nothing but your worst memories. Sounds horrible. I can't believe there are things that do that."

"Well, that's not all they do Olive-"

"I know!" Olive interrupted. "But I don't really want to talk about what else they do. It makes me feel ill." Mat walked in with Rose, who smiled at her uncle in surprise. After everyone had settled in the classroom, Professor Hennessy got up.

"Right," she said, loudly. "I'm sure that all of you know the man standing in this room, and he is here to come and talk to you today. Harry Potter, one of the greatest wizards of our time and also known as the father of James and Albus Potter."

Albus grinned as his father, in spite of himself, reddened deeply and rubbed his neck awkwardly. He might be one of the greatest wizards of they're time, but he knew for a fact that he'd always felt uncomfortable and embarrassed whenever people started praising him excessively. He even got a little applause from the many eleven year olds sitting in front of him.

"Right," Harry said, walking in front of the desk as Professor Hennessy sat down again. "Like Professor Hennessy said, I'm Harry and I'm basically here to talk to you about defending yourself against the Dark Arts."

Harry got out his wand and, with a casual flick, he conjured up a chair out of thin air and sat down.

"So," he went on. "How do you all feel about the Dark Arts at the moment? Honestly, now that Voldemort is dead, how do you all feel?" Harry still found it quite surprising that in the space of nearly twenty years, no one showed any reaction at the mention of Voldemort's name. Even Ron said the name now.

There was a silence at first. Albus supposed that everyone was a little bit intimidated by the great Harry Potter. Well, he certainly wasn't going to be the first one to answer the question. But thankfully, Mat, being as confident as she is, was the first to speak up.

"Well," Mat said, loudly and clearly as everyone looked at her. "It doesn't really affect us as much as it must have affected everyone your age when you were here, especially you."

"That's right," Harrry replied. "It was different for us. But just because Voldemort is dead, that doesn't mean that there are no other dark wizards left. We regularly get old Death Eaters who are stil convinced that Voldemort will return and that nothing can overthrow him. Just last week, we arrested a wizard in Bangcock who insisted that he would be the next great, dark sorceror in the Wizarding World. He killed thirty-eight people with the help of nine followers. The ten of them are now in Azkaban."

"Wow," Jack whistled.

Harry spent the hour and a half long lesson talking to them about the Dark Arts from his point of view. He told them all very interesting stories, even one where he had gone with Albus Dumbledore to a mysterious cave to get one of Voldemort's horcruxes and he had to force feed Dumbledore a horrible potion that made him relive the most painful memories of his life. Everyone was awed by all these stories, but obviously, Albus had heard them all before. Even so, that didn't mean he wasn't interested.

After this riveting ninety minutes, all the students trooped out, talking amongst themselves enthusiastically about what they'd just heard.

"Your dad is so cool!" exclaimed Maria Jacobs from Hufflepuff to Albus.

"Errr, thanks," Albus said, uncertainly.

"Have you ever said two words to her?" Gemma asked, as Maria flounced away again.

"Never," Albus replied.

"Thought so," Gemma laughed.

"So, what did you think of my dad?"

"He was really interesting," Gemma answered as they made their way to the Gryffindor common room. "I think it's pretty amazing that someone who's been through as much he has doesn't come out being at all cocky."

"Did you expect him to be cocky before?" Albus asked.

"No!" Gemma insisted, promptly. "No, that's not what I was saying at all! I meant that it's so cool that he's not cocky at all, because a lot of people would get a bit big-headed with all the praise he gets. And the fact that he's not, just makes him cooler." Albus laughed.

"It's OK, Gem. I know what you're trying to say."

"OK!" Suddenly, Olive was running after them. "Sorry! I dropped my bracelet in the classroom! Weren't you guys wondering where I'd gone." Albus and Gemma fell silent, guiltily.

"Oh," Olive said, raising her eyebrows. "OK. I see. You two are just so absorbed in each other that my presence is completely non-existant whenever I'm around you! I get it. Can't say I'm not hurt though."

"No!" Albus and Gemma said simutlaneously, turning scarlet.

"I was actually just saying to Albus that I was wondering where you had got to," Gemma lied.

"Please!" Olive scoffed, looking amused. "I can practically see GUILTY edged on both of your faces!"

"Sorry," Albus apologized.

"No problem," Olive said. "I know I've evidently gotten seriously boring but can I still tell you guys what I think is an interesting story?"

"Of course," Gemma answered, quickly. "And you're not boring, Olive! You tell the best stories! Go on!"

"OK, chill out! It's coming! OK, basically, I was in there looking for my bracelet under my desk and I found it and your dad was still there, Albus. And I started talking to him, oh by the way, I'm spending a week in your house over the summer, and all of a sudden Katie Wilson comes in and starts jabbering."

Olive suddenly put one hand on her right hip, flicked her long hair back with her right hand and scowled in an impeccable impression of Katie.

"She was like, 'Hi, Mr Potter! Oh my goodness, I am such a huge fan! I've heard so much about you from my mother! I'm sure you remember her! She's Cho Chang. She was your girlfriend in fifth year!"

Albus' jaw dropped.

"I know," Olive said, returning to normal.

"MY dad went out with Katie Wilson's mum?"

"I am _so _sorry," Gemma said, softly.

"Imagine hearing it from the horse's mouth!" Olive exclaimed. "Well, the horse's offspring's mouth. I thought I was going to be sick! There I was, waiting for your dad to deny it and tell Katie that was ridiculous and she could leave the room feeling stupid and embarassed, but it never happened!"

"What did say when Katie said that?" asked Albus.

"He just kind of nodded and went a bit pink."

"Wow," Albus said. At that point, the threesome had drawn up to the portrait hole.

"Hey!" Gemma exclaimed. "The Fat Lady's back!" Olive and Albus looked and they smiled.

"Yes!" Olive cried out. "Finally! I was getting tired of that irritating, psychotic grandfather! Next time you go on holiday, get a better replacement!"

"Where did you go anyway?" Albus asked, eyeing the huge Aviators, the large hat and flowery dress she was sporting.

"Barbados," she replied. "Most enjoyable. Lovely weather. Do you all know the new password?" The three smiles froze slightly.

"Barbados?" Gemma guessed, uncertainly.

"Correct," the Fat Lady said, swinging forwards. Olive looked at Gemma in awe.

"You really are a genius," she said. Gemma simply smiled modestly. Instead of going straight to their dormitories, the three of them collapsed on to chairs. After about ten minutes, James and Poppy walked in.

"Hi," James said, sitting down opposite Gemma. "Where's the Fat Lady been? She looks tanned."

"Maybe the new password will give you a clue, James," Poppy answered, sitting opposite Olive.

"What did Dad say in your lesson, James?" Albus asked.

"Basically, just the stuff he tells us at home," James answered, reclining in an armchair.

"Yeah," Albus agreed. "He told us that story about Dumbledore drinking the potion."

"He didn't tell us that story!" James said, indignantly.

"Relax James," Poppy sighed, rolling her eyes. "You've heard the story before."

"Yeah but still," James moaned, sinking back into his chair.

"He's really interesting," Gemma said, and James smiled in return.

"James!" Albus said, suddenly remembering. "Did you know that Dad went out with Katie Wilson's mother when he was here?"

"What?" James and Poppy both said, simultaneously.

"I know!" Olive put in. "Gross, isn't it?"

"What was her name?" James asked, still in shock.

"Cho Chang," Olive replied, still looking disgusted.

"Oh," said James, a look of realization dawning on his face. "That's the woman that mum hates!"

"Oh, phew!" Olive exclaimed. "Thank goodness someone in your family has a good sense of judgement!" They all laughed.

"It's still really weird," Poppy said.

"Well, your mum went out with our uncle," James pointed out. "How's that for weird?"

"Good point," Poppy replied.

"What?" Olive asked, incredulously. "What uncle? Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?!"

"Uncle Ron," James said.

"Didn't you know that, Livs?" Poppy asked.

"No!"

"Oh sorry. I didn't tell you because I just assumed you knew!"

"Albus, did you know?" Olive asked, turning towards Albus.

"Yeah," he replied. "Mum told us a few Christmases ago. And she went out with Hazel and Ella's dad."

"OK, didn't know that," Poppy replied.

"Who told you that your mum went out with Uncle Ron?"

"James told me."

"Anyway," Olive said, looking uncomfortable now. "Can we please stop discussing our parents' past love lives?"

The others agreed heartily, and began to discuss the other lessons they'd learnt that day.


	16. A Strange Bathroom Experience

"Katie! Open the bathroom you don't own it, you know!"

Olive was hammering on the door to the girls' bathroom along with Mat. Katie and some of her loathsome crownies had locked themselves in the bathroom, refusing to permit entry to anyone that wasn't good enough in Katie's opinion.

"I don't own it?" Katie repeated. "I'm sorry, aren't you the ones standing outside the door begging me to open it?"

"Well, I think begging is a bit of an understatement," Olive muttered.

"Katie, just stop being a freak and let us in!" Mat yelled, banging on the door.

"Sorry," Katie replied, tauntingly. "You don't have the neccessary qualities to use this bathroom!"

"What qualities does it take to use a bathroom?" Olive demanded. "Come on, Katie! We need to do our makeup!"

"Yeah, you really do." Mat scowled and call her a name that caused Katie to get even more annoyed inside the bathroom.

"Sorry, but that's not going to let you in here," she said, stubbornly. Olive shouted in frustration.

"Come on," Mat whispered to her. "Let's just go to the other bathroom."

"What other bathroom?" asked Olive.

"You know, the other girls bathroom that no one goes into?"

"Isn't that one banned?"

"Yeah, but it can't be dangerous or anything. I mean, it's just a bathroom." Olive agreed heartily and they set off. On their way, they met Allison and Rose, who looked they were heading towards the bathroom.

"Katie's locked the door," Olive told them. "We're going to the forbidden girls' bathroom."

"Allie, let's just go to that one then," Rose suggested. "I really don't want to have to deal with Katie today."

"OK fine," Allison agreed. "But only because I'm bursting." The four of them made their way to the bathroom, ignoring the creaky OUT OF ORDER sign on the door.

"This place smells so weird," Mat said, grimacing in disgust. It was very gloomy, dank, grim and mucky.

"Wow," Olive said, looking around. "I never thought I'd ever describe a bathroom as...depressing."

There was some water on the floor and an old cauldron in the middle of the floor, near the sinks. Rose went over to it and knelt down beside it. She peered inside and saw what like a very mouldy, congealed looking potion.

"I wonder why no one ever comes in here," Allison wondered, getting her makeup bag and going to the nearest mirror. Olive and Mat joined her at the mirrors on either side. Rose left the old cauldron and went to the bathroom, as did Allison. When they got out, Olive and Mat were applying their makeup and gossiping, as per usual. Rose rolled her eyes and washed her hands. Allison did the same and joined Mat and Olive.

"So Mat," Olive said slowly, applying her eyeliner carefully. "How's it going with you and Jack?"

"It's good," Mat said, finishing with her mascara and getting out her bronzer. "The summer's coming up in a month or so, so he was telling me today that he really likes our relationship and he wants to keep going even during the summer.

"That's great!" Allison replied, finishing with her thick coat of foundation.

"That is great, isn't it?" Rose asked, using an old charm she'd learnt from her mother to tame her wild locks into submission with her wand.

"Yeah it is," Mat reassured her. "I'm just really going to miss him, that's all."

"Aw, that's sweet," Allison commented. "Olive, can I borrow your eyelash curler?"

"Yeah sure," Olive replied, passing the silver tool to Allie before she applied her lip gloss.

Suddenly, the four girls heard a loud, awful wailing and then what sounded like a great plunge into water and then an almighty splash.

"What was that?" Allison asked slowly. The other three shrugged with uncertain expressions on their faces.

"It came from the third cubicle," Rose pointed out, walking towards the mysterious cubicle. But before she could even lay her hands on the grimy door, a pale, gloomy and relatively spotty girl with dark, lank hair and pearly spectacles drifted out.

"Hello," she said, in a dreary, saddening tone.

"Hi," Mat replied, kindly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Myrtle," she said, sadly.

"Oh!" Rose started. "My dad's told me about you! You're Moaning Myrtle!" On cue, Moaning Myrtle started wailing.

"She's a ray of sunshine, isn't she?" Mat whispered to Olive. She laughed.

"Sorry," Allison said. "We didn't meant to offend you or anything."

"I came out of my toilet," Moaning Myrtle sniffed. "to come and greet you all, purely out of the goodness of my heart."

"Well, you don't really have a heart since your dead, do you?" Rose said, bluntly. "Well, at least, not a beating one." Olive laughed as she always did whenever she witnessed Rose putting together her mother's brains and her father's lack of tack in an unusual combination. Moaning Mrytle, however, didn't seem to find it so funny.

"You must be that Ron's daughter," she said, as a grey tear rolled down her cheek.

"Yeah," Rose said, slightly surprised. "So?"

"I can see that tactlessness runs in the family," she muttered. Rose raised her eyebrows as started laughing as well.

"Well, no offence," Rose went on. "But think of all the comments people could say about someone who lives in a toilet."

"Well, thank you very much!" Moaning Myrtle said, huffily. "Now would you like to tell me I'm ugly as well!"

"Sorry!" Rose said, indignantly. "I didn't mean to offend you, like Allie said. OK, I'm sorry."

"Maybe we should just go, Rose," Allie whispered into her ear.

"That's a good idea," Olive agreed. "Bye Myrtle." Myrtle sniffed in reply and dived into a toilet with another deafening wail. The four girls headed out the door and all gave Rose contemptuous looks as they got outside the door.

"What?" Rose said, indignantly. "She inhabits an S-bend! What was I supposed to say?"

"If you'd heard about her, didn't you expect her to be that sensitive?" Mat asked.

"Yeah, but someone had to ask. I know you were all thinking it and I just had the guts to say it out loud." Olive sighed exasperatingly.

"You are something else Rose," she said.

"I'll choose to take that as a compliment," she replied, tying her hair up into a ponytail and walking on. The other three girls rolled their eyes in exasperation and followed her.


	17. A Great Summer

"Can you believe it's been a whole year?" said Violet, disbelievingly.

Olive, Albus, Mat, Jack, Allison, Rhea, Louisa, Gemma, Paul, Ryan, Violet, Hazel, Daphne, Fred, Rose and Millie were all sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, which was taking them back to Platform nine and three-quarters. Mat and Jack were sitting next to each other holding hands.

"No not really," Gemma replied. "It's seemed to have gone so quickly."

"Fred, Daph, Millie!" Olive exclaimed. "You didn't cause any trouble this year!"

"Ah," Daphne said. "I do admit that this year we've been lying low. But next year, we're bringing out the big guns!"

"Yeah," Fred continued. "We've got big plans in operation!"

"Such as?" Olive enquired. The twins both tapped their noses simultaneously.

"Well," Millie said, slowly. "I did set Burrows' trousers on fire. Only momentarily!" she added at the alarmed look on Rhea's face. "And I put a caterpillar under Chrissie's pillow." They all laughed appreciatively.

"Nice!" Albus chuckled.

"Do you think next year's going to be different?" Rhea asked.

"Well, it might be easier," Louisa pointed out. "You know, we won't be new anymore. There'll be new first years."

"Oh yeah," Mat said. "My sister Freya's coming next year."

"My sister Heidi's coming next year as well," Olive put in.

"You have another sister?" Ryan asked.

"Yep," Olive answered.

"Wait, _another_?" Paul asked in surprise. "What do you mean another? Who's your other one?"

"Poppy," Olive said, slowly and disbelievingly.

"Poppy is your sister?" Paul asked, looking really shocked. "Poppy in second year?"

"Yes! It took you _this long _to figure that out? A year? Didn't the last name give you a clue?"

"I just never thought about it. Now that I think about it, you do look alike. Apart from the hair. Wait, if you have long, blonde hair and Poppy has long, brown hair then that would mean your other sister has, black hair?"

"No, Heidi has red hair. But not like Fred and Daph's colour hair. Like, dark-red hair."

"My brother's coming next year too," Rose put in.

"What's his name?" Ryan asked.

"Hugo," Rose replied.

"Well, I have a little sister coming myself. Her name is Phoebe."

"Aw, that's a nice name," said Mat.

"Albus, don't you have a sister?" Millie asked.

"Lily's not coming for another two years," Albus replied.

"Oh."

"So Olive," Paul continued. "Your family is two parents and three girls?"

"Yes."

"And you're all one year after the other?"

"Yes Paul, I'm just relieved that you can add." The train thundered on for about an hour. The food trolley went past and all the boys dived for it as if they'd never before seen something so wonderful.

"It's alright, just climb over me," Olive said sarcastically, staring at a shoeprint on her light-blue top. "I don't care. I might have liver damage now, but it's OK."

* * *

"Heidi's coming next year?" James asked. He, Poppy, Max, Ella, Lisa Preston, Stephanie Hughes, Bridget Cullen and Damien Willis were all sitting in a compartment together.

"Yeah," Poppy replied. "Is Lily?"

"The year after. I don't expect she's looking forward to another year of watching Albus and I go on the train before she gets to."

"She really wants to come then?"

"Yep."

"My little brother Lucas is coming next year," Bridget said. "He's really excited as well."

"Lucas?" Poppy said. "That was going to be my name if I was a boy."

"So, you're coming to my house for a week in August?" James asked Poppy.

"Two weeks now," answered Poppy. "Mum and Dad decided to spend a week in Fiji. Parents are so cruel."

"So, what will you be doing for the summer?" Damien asked. Damien was very good looking. He was fairly tall and muscly with sandy-brown hair that all the girls loved because he had a fringe that flopped into his eyes every two seconds and he had to keep fixing it with his hand. He had light-blue eyes and permanantly tanned skin. He had liked Poppy for so long, probably since the first time he saw her. But everytime he asked her out, she said no. All the girls thought she was mad, including Olive. I mean, Damien was easily the most good looking guy in their year. But Poppy had no interest in him. She thought he was just another one of those boys who tried to show off what they thought were their best qualities just to get the first alright looking girl to hang on to their arm like some sort of trophy. But Damien always thought the reason why Poppy said no was because she liked James. I mean, she was always spending time. Of course, this was not true, but Damien always thought it and because of this showed great hostility to James. And he, being a boy, had no idea what was going on. It was a hopelessly unneccessary love triangle that hadn't really been in full swing for about six months.

"Me?" James asked.

"No, not you," Damien said, spitefully. "I was talking to Poppy."

"Nothing much," Poppy replied quickly. "Just home. And then maybe Somerset. Dad was thinking about buying a cottage there. You?"

"Going to our villa in Spain for most of the summer," Damien replied, nonchalantly.

"What are _you _doing for the summer, James?" Bridget asked. Bridget Cullen was a very pretty girl with wavy, blonde, shoulder-length hair, light, green eyes and endearing, light freckles across her nose and cheekbones. She had always taken a particular interest with James, but this year James had been far too interested in Allison Davies to pay much attention to Bridget. He just considered her as a friend.

"Not much," James said. "I don't think we're doing anything really. Mum was talking about us going to Belgium for a week, but I think she'll be too busy with the Holyhead Harpies. And you?"

"Going to France." The eight of them talked about plans for the summer. Damien wittered on endlessly about his wonderful villa in Marbella. And then, Max tactfully started talking about going to Sydney, Australia as soon as there was a vacant space to speak when Damien paused for breath.

Lisa talked about going to Paris as she twiddled the ends of her jet-black hair and every time she spoke of _Le Champs Elysses _her honey-coloured eyes sparkled delightedly.

Ella told everybody that she, Hazel and their parents were going on safari in Africa for a week and then going to India.

The graceful, auburn-haired Stephanie told them of how she was visiting the highlands of Scotland to see her cousins.

The Hogwarts Express was finally slowing down. Everyone got their trunks and stood ready by the doors. A few minutes later, they opened and pupils poured out to greet their families. James sought his mother and father, and he found them standing about a metre away with Lily, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Hugo and Teddy. As he made his way towards them, he felt a sharp blow on his left shoulder and he staggered slightly. With a turn, he saw that Victoire, in her haste, had collided with him and within a few seconds, had flung herself into Teddy's arms. He raised his eyebrows and made the rest of the way to his parents, cousin and aunt and uncle.

"Hi Dad," James grinned.

"James!" Harry exclaimed, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "How was your year?"

"Weird," James replied, after a pause. "Hi Mum."

"Hi darling," Ginny replied, hugging him. "Where's your brother?"

"He's...somewhere around."

"Where's Rose?" Hermione asked, looking flustered. "Honestly, she's so small. She could be anywhere in this crowd!"

"Calm down, Hermione," Ron said. "She's fine. I'm sure she's coming. Look, there she is. With Fred, Daphne and Olive." Sure enough, Rose said goodbye to her cousins and friend and made her way over to them.

"Hi Mum, Dad!" she beamed. "Oh James, Albus is looking for you. Hi, Aunt Ginny! Uncle Harry!"

"Hello sweetheart," Ginny said, smiling. After a couple of minutes, Albus fought his way through the crowd.

"There you are!" he gasped. "Hi Mum, Dad!"

"Hi darling!" Ginny said again, stooping low to hug her second son. "How was your first year at Hogwarts?"

"It was really good," Albus breathed. "It was really fun!" Albus and James watched Olive talking to her mum and dad with a sullen expression on her face. She came towards Albus.

"Did you know that I'm staying at your house for an extra week because Mum and Dad are going to Fiji? Can you believe that?" Albus laughed.

"Sorry, Mr and Mrs Potter," Olive said, putting on her polite expression. "But could Heidi come with us for the second week because there's no one to look after her." Ginny and Harry laughed.

"That's fine dear," Ginny replied, as Olive went back to Lavender and Seamus.

"OK darling," Hermione said, kissing Rose on the forehead. "Let's go home." And with that, the ten of them strolled slowly away from the crowded Platform nine and three quarters, and looked forward to a great summer.


	18. A Trip Down Memory Lane

_Hi! I'm sooo sorry, it's been a while for this chapter! But you will see why from this chapter! SO HARD! Anyway, I hope it was worth it!  
I'm going to dedicate this chapter to Love2Love for being such an interesting reviewer! But, go easy on the oatmeal! And also, I hope you and Max Bailey never meet, for his sake! Oh, and also, did you take my suggestion about a certain TV programme? _

_Please enjoy, guys!_

_Love,  
HL.  
xx_

* * *

Harry pulled both of his sons by either arm and dragged them into his study. They both sat down at seats in front of his desk as their father folded his arms, looking stern.

"We're sorry we set Lily's doll on fire, Dad," James said quickly, before Harry could say anything.

"_We?_" Albus asked, incredulously. "I don't even know why I'm in trouble!"

"Who shaved the doll's head completely bald before James set her on fire?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh," Albus said, seeking low in his seat. "Yeah, that was me. But we were bored, and she hid our brooms!"

"And you responded by scalping and burning her favourite toy?"

"Yeah!" Albus and James asked simultaneously. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I'm not really angry, OK? But we were going to go to Ron and Hermione's house, but you are going to stay here?"

"What?" James asked, standing up. "Dad, please! We're bored! And we said we were sorry!"

"Would you rather have this as punishment or no Quidditch till you go back to school?" Harry asked, calmly. James narrowed his eyes while Albus' eyes did the exact opposite and widened.

"He's bluffing," James said, slowly.

"Are you sure that's a chance you really want to take?" Harry asked, waving his wand. Suddenly, two brooms soared into the study with a deafening carsh and Harry took hold of them.

"Our brooms!" Albus exclaimed.

"Where did you find them?" James asked.

"A ten year old girl hides two large brooms, it's not that difficult to figure out. I'm surprised you to didn't find them."

"There a lot of rooms in this house Dad," James said.

"Anyway, what will it be? Stay home for a few hours or no Quidditch?" James sat down again slowly.

"Good choice," Harry said. He waved his wand and with a flash, the brooms disappeared again. "We're going to go now. We'll be back at five o' clock. I'm not going to lock the door but I wouldn't advise stepping outside this study, boys." He shut the door with a loud click. A couple of minutes later, he heard their mother and father leave the house taking Lily through Side-Along Apparition.

An hour later, James was toying with an old straw that he found on the bookshelf and Albus was playing with a red, Exra-Bouncy ball. Eventually, he got tired of bouncing it with his hand so he started blowing it towards an empty bottle of Butterbeer that he found on the floor.

"Albus, what are you doing?" James asked, biting the straw all the way down to the bottle.

"I'm bored, OK! Oh, now look what you made me do!" In his distraction of talking to James, he had blown the ball of course and it bounced off the table and onto a small cabinet. As soon as it did, the cabinet swung open. Albus crawled onto the floor, grabbed his ball and looked into the cabinet. He couldn't really see what was in it, but he could see a sparkly, pearly-silver, shimmering light coming out of it. He got up and went inside the cabinet. He had never seen it before. As he entered the cabinet, he saw a large, shallow, stone basin with strange carvings, runes and symbols around the edges. He suddenly realized that the silvery, shimmering light was coming from the basin.

"James!" Albus called. "James, come in here!"

"What?" James asked. He entered the room and stood in awe behind Albus. "What's that?"

"I don't know," Albus whispered. "I've never seen it before."

"Neither have I. Why would Dad hide it from us?"

"I don't know. How do we check what it is?"

"Do we stick our hand in it or something?" Albus asked.

"Don't be stupid," James said. "You could stick your wand in. Do you have it with you?"

"Yeah," Albus said, bringing it out of his pocket. "But wouldn't that count as magic outside school?"

"I'm not sure," James said. "But what else can we dip in?"

"I don't know. Maybe we could use a twig?"

"That would be a good way to use all the twigs we have lying around," James replied, sarcastically. Albus pointed to a nearby plant.

"Oh," James said. "Why don't you just bend over it?" And with that, he stuck Albus' head into the basin. They both hurled into the basin. It felt like they were swimming in nothingness. All the boys could do was wonder what would happen when they eventually reached the bottom. _If _they eventually reached the bottom. Then suddenly, they landed into a completely random scene.

They found themselves in a miserable little shack that smelt strongly of seaweed and fried food. All the boys could see was mould wood and nails at first but when they focused they're eyes, they saw a strange little selection of people. They saw a miserable, grumpy looking man with a bristly moustache, a thin, sour-looking woman with a very long neck, an extremely large, porky boy and a small skinny boy with glasses who they instantly realized must be they're father when he was younger, because he looked exactly like Albus. But what was very strange was that they were all in their pyjamas.

"Albus," James whispered. "Thats-"

"I know," Albus replied. "What's happening? Who are all these people?"

"Don't you recognize them? That's Dad's aunt, uncle and cousin that were horrible to him. Remember, we met them when we had to go to his cousin's daughter's birthday party?"

"Oh yeah. She was really annoying. But that still doesn't explain what's going on." Then suddenly, James and Albus' eyes made they're way to the fireplace.

"Can they hear us?" Albus asked.

"I dunno," James replied. He walked right in front of Harry and waved a hand in front of him. He didn't blink. He was staring straight ahead. "Dad?" James called, loudly. Harry didn't give any sign that he'd heard.

There was a huge, vast, bearded man cooking a fry-up at the fireplace. That explained the smell of fried food at least.

"That's Hagrid, Al!" James said.

"I know! I know what Hagrid looks like! Now, shh! He's started speaking!" Indeed, the booming voice of Hagrid filled the tiny little shack and reverberated off the dingy walls.

_"Call me Hagrid," Hagrid thundered. "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts-yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course." _

_"Er-no," said Harry. _

_"Sorry," Harry said quickly, for Hagrid looked shocked. _

"_**Sorry?**" barked Hagrid, who was turning to stare at the Dursleys now. _

The two boys watched and laughed loudly as they watched Hagrid give they're dad's cousin a pig's tail. There was a small silence, and then:

_"Harry - yer a wizard."_

_"I'm a **what**?" gasped Harry. _

_"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa. _

Then suddenly, the scene changed. Some of the thin, silvery, wispy substance whipped past and then disappeared.

Where they found themselves next was even stranger. They were looking down on three small children, who looked like they were wrapped in a strange, binding plant. As they looked closer, they saw their father again, along with what looked like Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione this time. They were all struggling and writhing and squirming, and then Aunt Hermione got free first and slipped down into the plant.

"Did she just die?" James asked, alarmed.

"Yeah James," Albus replied, sarcastically. "Hugo and Rose have no mother."

_"Stop moving!" came an order from Hermione from down below. "I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!" _

_"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called!" Uncle Ron snarled, leaning back and trying to stop the plant curling around his neck. "That's a great help!" _

_"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" Hermione said. _

_"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped. _

_"Devil's Snare," Aunt Hermione muttered. "Devil's Snare... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp-" _

_"So light a fire!" Harry choked. _

_"Yes-of course-but there's no wood!" Hermione cried. _

_"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"_

_"Oh right!" said Hermione. Then suddenly, a jet of brilliant, bright light came out of the cracks of the plant. In a matter of seconds, Harry and Ron slid through the plant. _

_"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry, wiping his face._

_"Yeah," said Ron. "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis- 'there's no wood', **honestly**!"_

The scene changed again. It was Harry and Uncle Ron again, but they looked a little older than the last scene. They recognized this place. They were both standing at the barrier at platform nine and three quarters with all their luggage.

_"I think we'd better go and wait by the car," said Harry. "We're attracting too much atten-"_

_"Harry!" Uncle Ron suddenly interrupted, his eyes gleaming. "The car!" _

_"What about it?" _

_"We can fly the car to Hogwarts!" _

_"But I thought-"_

_"We're stuck, right? And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction Thingy..." _

_"Can you fly it?" Harry asked, looking excited. _

_"No problem," said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. "C'mon, let's go, if we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express." _

Albus and James followed their dad and uncle to a small, bright blue Ford Anglia. They got into the back of the car (strangely, they didn't have to open the door. They just walked straight through it!) and they went on a slightly rocky journey to Hogwarts. Then suddenly, the scene changed again.

They were standing in a large, dank room that was filled with serpent heads. They saw Harry again, a tall black haired boy (who looked strangely...blurry?) and they saw...their mother lying down on the soaking wet, hard floor, her skin as pale as snow. She looked unconscious, the boy looked euphoric and their father looked confused. It was an odd, but strangely sinister scene.

_"Why do you care how I escaped?" Harry said, slowly. "Voldemort was after your time." _

_"Voldemort," the boy said softly. "is my past, present and future, Harry Potter..." _

_He pulled a wand from his pocket and traced it through the air, forming scarlet shimmering letters, which spelt three words: _

_TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE_

_He waved the wand slickly, and the letters of what appeared to be his name, rearranged themselves to spell:_

_I AM LORD VOLDEMORT_

Before Albus or James could say anything with their already gaping mouths, the scene changed again. This time, their father was amongst a group of a lot of students. He looked a lot older, his hair thicker, his face broader and more aged. All the students were standing around a teacher wearing worn, tatty robes and looking very tired.

"That's Remus Lupin!" James hissed to Albus.

"Oh yeah!" Albus replied. "Teddy looks like him! Except his hair."

"Yeah, but he can change that whenever he likes," James pointed out. This group all appeared to be standing outside a classroom. And strangely, Peeves was bobbing about. James scowled. He had always found Peeves hilarious, up until he only let him pass through an entrance to get to Gryffindor Tower if he set fire to his own trousers. He had never thought as highly pf Peeves after that experience.

_Peeves blew a wet rasberry, at Professor Lupin apparantly. Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand._

_"This a useful spell," he said to the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely." He raised his wand about shoulder height, pointed at Peeves and said, **Waddiwassi!**_

_Suddenly, a wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole of the classroom and thrust itself down Peeves's left nostril. He floated away, cursing angrily. _

_"Cool sir!" said a tall, black boy in amazement. _

James and Albus were surprised to see Dean Thomas.

"Poppy's dad!" James exclaimed.

_"Thank you, Dean." Remus Lupin said, modestly. _

The group moved inside the classroom and James and Albus followed suit. They watched in fascination as their father, looking even older, his face much broader and more aged, and a large number of other students faced a Boggart in a wardrobe. The scene changed again. James and Albus were now standing by a cold, dark lake, which they recognized as the Black Lake at school. They saw hundreds and hundreds of Dementors swarming around two figures at the other side of the Lake. Their father had described them too often for them not to recognize them instantly. They saw a tall, bearded man lying there, but they couldn't make him out. They saw a boy kneeling beside him who they assumed must be Harry again, and he waved his wand and some flickery, silver light came out of it, but faded quickly. Then they saw their father keel over and collapse. Sudddenly, a boy rushed out from the bushes behind where Albus and James were standing. They gasped.

It was their father! But they had just seen him...  
He rushed over to the edge of the Lake, pointed his wand at Sirius and...himself(?) and shouted,

_"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" _Slowly, a large, silver stag erupted out of the end of his wand and charged at the Dementors now floating directly over Sirius and Harry No. 1. Harry No. 2 stood there panting as the Dementors floated away. As the stag returned, Harry No. 2 stepped out and patted the top if it's tenderly.

_"Prongs," he whispered_.

With another quick whirl of wind, the scene changed again. They were standing beside they're mother and father. This was the first time they had seen their mother since when they saw her lying on the floor of that dank, cold room and she looked a lot older. So did Harry. He now had a fringe that covered at least half of his lightening-bolt scar. They couldn't really place where they were. They looked around their parents. They saw Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione again, their grandfather, Uncle George...and that must be Uncle Fred. James sighed. He and Albus had always been sorry that they never knew him. All of them seemed to be looking straight ahead and cheering raucously. Albus and James followed their gazes and gasped. They saw eight men in green on brooms, spread out on one side of what appeared to be a vast pitch. James noticed that the Chasers were excellent, and stared at them open mouthed. But Albus was looking at the other side of the pitch, at the players wearing scarlet robes. ALbus was transfixed with the Seeker. He was absolutely superb. The boys watched the match for several minutes and got excited quickly as they saw the two Seekers neck and neck, apparantly fighting to get the Snitch. But at the very last possible second, the Seeker dressed in scarlet pulled out of the dive, leaving thelime wearing Seeker to pummel straight into the ground in surprise. The crowd gasped. All they could see was a tiny little green dot.

The scene changed again. James and Albus suddenly found themselves at the Great Hall in Hogwarts. They were standing where Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting. Everybody was clapping cheerfully, but the Great Hall was also filled with strange students, who appeared to be from other schools. James and Albus looked up at the stage and saw the amazing Seeker they had just watched, shaking Albus Dumbledore's hand and then disappearing into a chamber behind a huge, mysterious goblet that was alight with flames.

"Dad's told me about this!" James hissed. "This is the Triwizard Tournament!"

_The goblet's flames suddenly turned fiery red. Then, a piece of parchment suddenly shot out of the goblet and Dumbledore caught it deftly. _

_"The champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore called loudly. "is Fleur Delacour!" _

James and Albus gaped in amazement.

_"It's her Ron!" Harry shouted, as Aunt Fleur disappeared into the chamber as well. _James and Albus noticed that his voice sounded a lot deeper.

_"Oh look," Hermione said, looking over at the Ravenclaw table. "They're all disappointed." _

James and Albus turned their gazes to the Beauxbatons students, who were now in tears.

_The goblet turned red again and another piece of parchment flew out of it. Dumbledore caught it again. _

_"The Hogwarts champion is Cedric Diggory!" _

_"No!" said Ron, loudly. _

_A tall, brown-haired boy got up from the Hufflepuff table and, grinning, walked over to Dumbledore, shook his hand and disappeared into the chamber. _

_"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily, as the applause died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I'm sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"_

Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and the two boys knew why.

_The goblet had suddenly turned fiery red again. Another piece of parchment came spitting out of it, and Dumbledore caught it. He stared at the parchment for at least a full two minutes, and then said, into the quiet Hall, loudly and clearly:_

_"Harry Potter." _Before the boys could get a good look at the expression on their father's face, the scene changed again. They now found themselves standing beside their father in a large tent. He looked very nervous; he was gripping his wand tightly. Then they heard a booming voice from somewhere outside the tent.

_"And now...Harry Potter!" A loud whistle followed this statement, and with shaking legs, Harry walked out of the tent. _James and Albus followed were looking at hundreds and hundreds of people standing in the stands. Albus knew that they couldn't see him, but he still felt nervous at the sight of those faces looking in his direction. Well, in his Dad's direction. But then, Albus saw something that made him more scared than the sight of the audience did.

There was a massive dragon in the middle of enclosure, with rough, scaly skin. He was surrounded by huge grey eggs and one gleaming, gold one in the middle.

_Harry stood there for a minute and then waved his wand. _

_"Accio Firebolt!" he shouted. _

"Albus, grab my hand," James suddenly said.

"What?" Albus asked.

"I know what's going to happen! Grab my hand!" Albus did so.

_A split second later, the tall, familiar broomstick sped towards them and Harry jumped on it immediately. _James instantaneously jumped on after Harry and grabbed Albus with him, just in time as Harry spared up into the air. The two boys watched in awe as their father dodged the monstrous dragon, evidently trying to retrieve the golden egg.

"Wow!" Albus whistled. "Dad really was an amazing flyer!"

"Was?" James said. "He still is, Al! It's incredible!"

_"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled a huge, powerfully built man, who was holding his wand to his neck as he spoke, as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr Krum?" _

_Harry got caught by her spiky tail only once, and got the egg within minutes. _James and Albus clapped and cheered along with the crowd and slid off the broom as their father landed quickly.

_"Look at that!" the man was yelling again. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr Potter!" _

As the boys saw Hagrid and two professors who they didn't recognize running to meet him, the scene changed again.

_They were standing in what appeared to be a graveyard. Their father was...duelling, they supposed, with an unusual wizard with deep, scarlet, sunken eyes and rotten, scaly skin. They realized he must be duelling with Lord Voldemort himself. Except they weren't throwing curses at each other. Their wands appeared to have...collided. There was a wisp of white smoke encircling the two of them, and men in sinister masks were watching, looking confused and scared. And suddenly, some sort of ghost stepped out of the two connected wand tips. It was Cedric Diggory, that tall, handsome boy who's name had come out of the fiery goblet. After him, another body stepped out. It was a frail, old man. After him, a large, porky woman stepped out. Then-_

James and Albus gasped as they saw their grandparents step out of the wand tips. They recognized them. They'd seen pictures of them. The two boys watched as these ghosts or whatver they were told him to hold on, hold on for dear life. Cedric Diggory was asking him to take his body back to his father. Their grandparents, Lily and James Potter, told him that they'd tell him when to let go. They did so and Harry ran towards a long, limp body lying beside a large, shining cup.

_"Stun him!" Voldemort cried. The wizards, which must have been Death Eaters ran towards Harry, but not quickly enough._

_"Accio!" Harry shouted, and he, the cup and the body disappeared._

As they did so, the scene changed again.

Their father looked a lot older. His eyes now showed some kind of hauntd look about them. He was on a dark street, standing beside his cousin again. He looked a lot fatter than he did in the last scene they saw him in. They were both just standing there, looking frightened. Then suddenly, a large Dementor came out of nowhere and grabbed Harry by the throat. His cousin blundered stupidly, runnning ahead, straight at another Dementor that was leering at him.

_"DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!" Harry yelled, falling on the floor. He grabbed his wand and pointed it at the Dementor right in front of him. _

_"Expecto patronum!" _For the second time, James and Albus watched a silvery wisp of vapour erupt out of their father's wand, form into a stag and charge right at the Dementor. The Dementor floated away, up and into the night. Harry pointed his wand at the other Dementor that was now floating above his cousin and the stag chased that one away too. As soon as he rushed over to his cousin and knelt over him, a small woman with grey hair coming out of her hairnet, came bustling into the dark street with two shopping bags clinking together. When Harry saw her, he hid his wand hastily.

_"Don't put it away, idiot boy!" she shrieked. "What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to **kill **Mundungus Fletcher!" _The scene changed again.

They were now in a classroom, but not any ordinary classroom. It was a violent shade of pink and it had...pictures of kittens everywhere. They were standing beside Harry, who was sitting down and looking at a short, stout woman wearing pink robes and had a pink bow perched on top of her head with the deepest loathing.

_"I want you to write, **I must not tell lies**," she told him softly._

_"How many times?" their father asked, with what sounded like forced politeness. _

_"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to **sink in**," the woman said sweetly. "Off you go." _

_She went to sit at her desk._

_"You haven't given me any ink," he said. _

_"Oh, you won't need any ink," the woman sang. _

_Harry put a golden quill on the paper and slowly wrote, "I must not tell lies" on the paper. As soon as he did so, it the wordes appeared on the back of his right hand in blood red ink. _

Albus gasped. For about ten minutes, the boys watched their father writing these lines, and realized that he was writing them in his own blood. The scene changed again.

They were in a dusty, old pub that was almost deserted apart from the large number of students assembled at one corner. James and Albus found themselves standing beside Harry, Ron and Hermione again. It sort of looked like a Q&A. All these students were facing Harry, Hermione and Ron, and their father did not look pleased.

_"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you," he said, his temper at a high level already. _

"Al look," James saiid, pointing at a very pretty girl with long, black hair.

"What?" Albus asked.

"Doesn't that girl look exactly like Katie?"

"Oh yeah. She must be that Cho Chang."

_"I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right?" Harry went on. "So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out." There was a little pause after this, during which a few people shifted uncomfortably in their seats. _

_"So," Hermione said in a high-pitched voice that was not her own, getting up. "So...like I was saying...if you want to learn some defence, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet and when we're going to-"_

_"Is it true," interrupted a girl with a long plait. "that you can produce a Patronus?" Some people in the group mumbled at these words. _

_"Yeah," Harry said. _

_"A corporeal Patronus?" _

_"Er-you don't know Madam Bones, do you?" Harry asked. _

_"She's my auntie," she said. "I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So - is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?" _

_"Yes," Harry said. _The scene suddenly changed again. They were standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch. Their dad was holding the Snitch triumphantly. Albus and James beamed. He was talking to a tall, black girl who they recognized as Uncle George and Aunt Alicia's friend, Angelina Johnson.

_"It was that thug Crabbe," she said, angrily. "he whacked the Bludger at you the moment he saw you'd got the Snitch - but we won, Harry, we won!" There was a snort from behind Harry's back. _

Albus and James turned around and saw Mr Malfoy - Scorpius's father, not looking very different than he did now, just shorter.

_"Saved Weasley's neck, haven't you?" he said to Harry. "I've never seen a worse Keeper...but then he was **born in a bin**...did you like my lyrics, Potter?"_

Their father ignored him, which was more than James and Labus could say. They were now shouting insults at an impervious Draco Malfoy, who obviously couldn't hear them.

_Harry turned away from Malfoy to meet the rest of the team, apart from Ron who sloped to the changing rooms alone mournfully. _

_"We wanted to write another couple of verses!" Malfoy called, as Aunt Alicia herself and her other friend, Katie Bell, came forward and hugged Harry. "But we couldn't find any rhymes for fat and ugly - we wanted to sing about his mother, see-" _

James swore at Malfoy indignantly.

_"Talk about sour grapes," Angelina hissed. _

_" - we couldn't fit in **useless loser **either - for his father, you know -" _

_Uncle George and Uncle Fred suddenly realized what he was talking about and stiffened. _

_"Leave it!" Angelina said, taking Fred's arm as he stepped forward. "Leave it, Fred, let him yell, he's just sore he lost, the jumped-up little-"_

_"-but you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?" Malfoy went on, sneering. "Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells OK-"_

_Harry had now grabbed hold of George. But it was taking a lot of effort from Angelina, Katie and Alicia to stop Fred from running at Malfoy. _

_"Or perhaps," Malfoy continued, leering. "you can remember what **your **mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasleys's pigsty reminds you of it-" _

_The effect was instantaneous. Harry let go of George abruptly, ran towards Malfoy and punched him hard in the stomach with the fist that was still clutching the Snitch, forcing him to the ground. _

James and Albus were completely unaware of who was hitting who at that point. All they saw were three boys, all in one big rumble and the rest of the players clutching Uncle Fred to stop him charging at Malfoy too.

_"Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! **NO!**" the girls shrieked. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and their father and Uncle George were forced off Malfoy, with what seemed to be an Impediment Jinx by Madam Hooch. Malfoy was curled up on the ground, shaking with the pain of his bloody nose. George now had a swollen lip and Fred was still being forcibly restrained by the three Chasers. _

_"What do you think you're doing?" screamed Madam Hooch. "I;ve never seen behaviou like it - back up to the castle, both of you, and straight to your Head of House's office! **Now!**" _

_Their father and Uncle George turned on their heels and marched off the pitch. _

Albus and James were just about to follow them, when they heard a familiar, deep voice and a hand on each of their left shoulders.

"Hello boys." As they turned around, they saw their father, the full grown Harry Potter, looking down at them.

"Hi Dad!" James said. "You can see us, can't you?"

"Oh, I can see you," he replied, in an expressionless tone. "I think we should go back now. You don't want to see what happens next, trust me." And with a feeling that they were being lifted up to the heavens, the boys went through othingness again, and before they knew it, they were back inside their father's study.

"So," their father said, shutting the door to the secret cabinet and sitting at his desk. "What memories did you see?" Albus and James started talking excitedly at once.

"...flying car!" Albus exclaimed.

"...about a hundred Dementors at once!"

"...Word Cup and that Seeker...!"

"....you and Voldemort...the wands!"

"....your cousin! And that old woman!"

"...the back of your hand! Your own blood!" Harry held up a hand to stop to stop this endless flow.

"OK, I think I get the general gist of what memory you saw. I'm glad I realized where you were before..."

"Before what?" Albus asked, eagerly.

"Before you saw Sirius die before your eyes," Harry said, brooding. Albus and James were silent.

"Sorry Dad," James said, guiltily.

"What?" Harry said, starting. "Don't be sorry. I probably would have taken you inside the Pensieve sooner or later."

"The pensieve?" James questioned.

"It was Albus Dumbledore's. Ernie-I mean Professor Macmillan didn't want it, so he gave it to me. Brace yourself boys. I suppose it's about time to tell you my life story. The whole thing."


	19. Sort It Out

_Hi guys! I'm so sorry it's been so long! I hope you didn't think that was the end of the story...cos it SOOO wasn't! I hope this chapter was worth the wait!!  
Thanks so much for your awesome reviews! Please read this chappie and leave another one! No flames, s'il vouz plait?_

_Love,  
HL.  
xxx_

* * *

"So, your dad fought a hundred Dementors at once?" Olive asked.

Olive was dragging her trunk out of the front door of Grimmauld Place among a very large group, which consisted of herself, James, Albus, Poppy, Hazel, Ella, Heidi, Fred, Daphne, Louis, Dominique, Violet, Polly, Rose helping a struggling Hugo with his own trunk and Victoire, who was positively glued to Teddy who was leant against the drainpape by the door.

"Yeah," Albus replied.

"That's amazing," Olive replied.

"You know what else is amazing?" Heidi panted. "The fact that a tiny eleven year old girl is slaving away with her trunk and getting no help whatsoever!"

"Stop whining Heidi," Olive muttered, turning away from Albus to help her sister.

"Why don't you guys just put a charm on them?" Teddy asked, finally breaking apart from Victoire and playing with her hair affectionately.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" Albus panted, who was bright red and trying to shift Fred's trunk.

"Oh yeah," Teddy replied, smirking. "Under-age! Sucks, doesn't it?"

"You suck," Albus said. "Fred, what is in here?"

"Ah," Fred replied, mysteriously. "I am not at liberty to discuss that."

"Fine," Albus breathed, dropping the trunk. "Then I am not at liberty to carry your trunk."

"When are we leaving?" Rose asked, holding a hand up to her forehead to shade herself from the still, brilliantly bright sunshine that they were still getting even at the beginning of September.

"Now," Teddy said, looking at his watch. "OK, Harry trusted me to get you all to school on time. So, I'm going to drive you guys." He pointed a bright blue, Ford Anglia out in the street opposite the house.

"Why isn't Mr Potter taking us?" Poppy asked.

"Because he has a life. So, let's go. Are you all ready? Oh for God's sake Fred, I'll just put a charm on it then!" Teddy whipped out his wand and pointed it at Fred's trunk, which immediately flew rapidly into the boot of the car.

"Hey!" Albus exclaimed. "That's the car that Dad and Uncle Ron used to go to school!"

"Errm, Teddy?" Olive said cautiously, as he seemed to be in a bad mood. "Somehow, I don't think we're all going to fit. I mean, there's sixteen of us."

"Fifteen," Victoire added, studying her shiny, red and gold "Head Girl" badge. "I'm Apparating."

"Why?" Tedy asked, looking surprised.

"Because I can," she said, simply. And after giving Teddy another passionate kiss, she Disapparated. Albus guessed that she would be materializing at Platform Nine and Three Quarters right now.

"I can't wait until I can Apparate," Daphne said.

"Please," James scoffed. "You can't even walk in a straight line without falling!"

"James!" Daphne shrieked. "That's not true!"

"Don't worry Daph," he went on. "It's endearing."

"Guys," Rose said impatiently, naturally one of the very few with a sense of urgency. "It's nearly eleven o' clock."

"Yeah," Poppy agreed. "We should go." The fourteen Hogwarts students got into the car, which magically took all of them. They guessed that there must be some kind of charm on it. Teddy was just getting into the driving seat, when he realized he'd forgotten his wand and wallet on the coffee table in the hall.

"Hurry up!" James said, from the passenger's seat. "It's ten to eleven!"

James started fiddling with the dashboard as Teddy shot out of the car and was gone for a few minutes.

"You know this car flies," he said, conversationally.

"What?" Heidi asked, excitedly. "Cool! How? Is there a button that you press or something?" She sprung forwards to investigate, but Olive promptly held onto her shoulder and forced her backwards.

"Don't fiddle with a car you've never been in before!" she hissed.

"Sorry _Mum_," Heidi said, irritably.

"Where's Teddy?" Albus said, annoyingly. "We're going to miss the train!" On cue, Teddy rushed out of the house clutching his wand.

"Let's go then," he said, sitting in the driver's seat and starting up the engine. They departed with a roar of ignition. With Teddy's rapid driving that was just about legal, they got there in five minutes. There was quite a hassle to put all the trunks and owls on to separate trolleys, but they managed it in the end.

"Well," Teddy said, as they drew up outside the magical barrier. "Have a good trip guys, and I'll see you at Christmas!"

"Are you not going to come on the platform with us?" Olive asked, putting her pure-white owl, Snowflake, on top of her trunk.

"No, I have to do some stuff. Harry just told me to make sure you guys get to Kings Cross. So, my job's done! Bye!"

"Bye Teddy!" they all chorused as Teddy vanished into thin air as he Apparated.

"OK," Hugo said. "Let's go." He was the first one to go disappear through the barrier. Then Heidi. Then Polly. Followed by Hazel, Daphne and Fred.

"OK," James said, going next and the rest of the large clan tailed him. But to his horror, James saw the scarlet steam engine pulling away from the station and Hugo, Heidi and Polly waving at them from the window.

"Oh my God!" Olive asked. "James, run!"

"Olive, I'm not a superhero!" he replied, urgently. "The train's gone! There's no way any of us can catch it! It looks like Hazel and Fred just about caught it."

Indeed, Hazel and Fred had run up to the window looking quite red and panting. And then all they could see of them were tiny little dots that they very well knew were frantic and urgent expressions.

"What are we going to do?" Poppy said, stressfully.

"This is all Teddy's fault!" James said, exasperated. "He _had _to go back and get his wallet and wand!" They all stood there contemplating.

"Seriously," Rose said, biting her names extremely nervously and looking at the huge clock on the wall, which now read three minutes past eleven. "_What _are we going to do? We have to get to Hogwarts!"

"Well," Albus said, thoughtfully. "We'd better go back to the car park. If we hurry, Teddy will only be leaving there now." The eight of them agreed and followed James back to the car park. When they wheeled all their luggage up to the Ford Anglia however, Teddy was not there.

"We can't really wait long, James," Poppy said, looking at her watch after a few minutes.

"You're right," James agreed, walking towards the car door.

"What are you doing?" Poppy asked. James got out his wand, pointed it at the car door's lock and chanted:

_"Alohamora!" _The eight of them gasped.

"_James!"_ Olive hissed. "_What the hell are you doing? _You're not allowed to use magic outside school, remember?"

"I remember," James said, opening the door calmly. "And I also remember that you can use it again starting on the first of September, which is today." They all stood in surprised silence.

"So," Albus said, slowly. "You let me drag mine and Fred's trunk and I could have used a charm on it?"

"Forget you!" Olive said, looking annoyed. "I broke a nail shifting mine!"

"OK, as terrible as your plight over your broken nail is," James said, getting into the driver's seat. "We need to get going."

"What do you mean we need to get going?" Poppy asked.

"I mean," James explained. "We need to leave now. We need to try and look for the train and follow it."

"Have you lost your mind?" Poppy said, blazingly. "We can't take the car!"

"Any better ideas, Poppy?" Violet asked. She pulled out her own wand and pointed it at her trunk.

_"Wingardium Leviosa!" _Her trunk immediately floated into thin air, and with Violet's direction, sank into the boot of the car. Albus did the same with his own and grabbed his owl, Sawyer, as did Olive along with Snowflake.

"This is insane," Rose muttered, clutching a grumpy-looking, ginger cat called Crookshanks that had belonged to her mother. "It's illegal, in case you didn't know!"

"Rose," Albus said patiently, getting into the car with Olive and Violet. "We have no other choice. Don't worry, we watched your dad driving a car in Dad's Penseive. You have to hurry up."

Reluctantly, Rose pointed her own wand at her trunk, made it land into the open boot and got into the car beside Albus.

"I suppose we have no other option," Dominique said, flying hers and Louis's trunk into the boot, grabbing her owl, Trixie. "Come on, Louis." They got into the car. Without a word, Ella flew hers and James's trunk into the boot and got into the car beside Dominique. They were all waiting for Poppy now.

"Come on Pops," James said. "Time is going. We need to look for the train. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Just get in." He gestured to the passenger's seat.

"In the death seat?" Poppy asked, indignantly.

"It'll be fine! This car can't be any more complicated to manouvre than a broomstick! I know what I'm doing! I watched Uncle Ron drive this car! And it's been perfected since anyway, Dad told us. So it's in excellent condition. Come on, get in the car."

Poppy sighed. "I must be mental," she said, pointing her wand at her trunk, the final remaining one on the car park ground, placed into the boot gently, shut the boot, and got into the passenger's seat.

"Why isn't Teddy at the car yet anyway?" she asked, doing her seatbelt.

"I don't know," James replied, starting the ignition. "He must have had to take care of some stuff before he returned the car."

"Wait!" Dominique said. "How are we going to tail the train if it's on a railway and we're on ground."

"Did you not hear me say this car flies?" James said. Rose stared at him.

"And what on earth will the Muggles think when they see a bright blue, flying car in the sky!" she asked. "Don't forget we're in Kings Cross station!"

"It has an Invisibility Booster Rose," Albus said calmly, pointing the large, silver button sitting inbetween the gear shift and the radio.

"Oh," she said. James suddenly started driving out of the station, and after a couple of minutes, he banged on the Invisibility Booster and gradually flew higher and higher into the air. As soon as he was sure that they had gone unnoticed, he sped up.

"James, slow down!" Poppy said, anxiously. "I'm nervous enough!"

"I have to find the train, Poppy!" he replied. "And it's going to be going really fast, so I have to catch up with it!" It took about ten minutes of extremely speedy driving to find the Hogwarts Express, during which some people (Poppy and Rose) were getting very anxious about whether or not they would manage to find the train or would they spend days endlessly cruising in the air. But eventually, James clapped eyes on the vast, scarlet, steam-engine down below.

"I've found the train!" he said. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh wait!" Violet said. "Teddy's going to think the car's been stolen! He might tell the Ministry!" Rose gasped.

"Oh no!" she said. "He might alert the Aurors! We might be arrested! I can't be sent to Azkaban, I haven't even taken my OWLs yet!"

"Rose, shut up," Olive said, looking disbelieving.

"It's going to be fine," Albus reassured her. "We'll just send Teddy an owl explaining everything. I'll use Sawyer. Does anyone have a quill and a piece of parchment?"

"Yeah I do," Rose replied, calming herself and handing Albus a piece of parchment and a handsome quill which she retrieved from her jacket pocket.

"You carry a quill and parchment around with you?" Olive asked.

"In case of emergencies," Rose said demurely, stroking Crookshanks.

"In what kind of emergency will you ever need those for?"

"This kind of emergency."

"Fair enough," Olive said, satisfied. "Well, since I'm allowed to use magic now, I'll do my nails. It's been killing me not being able to do them at home."

"Why didn't you just ask Mum to do them?" Poppy asked.

"I never thought of that," Olive said.

"Well," Ella said, speaking the first words she'd said since they got in the car. "It's a good thing that Hugo and Heidi caught the train because they're going to be Sorted. So, they'll be going across the Lake."

"Oh yeah," Poppy said. "It is a good thing."

They all sat chatting. Albus sent Teddy the letter explaining everything. Olive finally did her nails, a French manicure, the way she'd been dying to have them since July. Rose finished a book called Little Women. It was quite a successful trip, nowhere near as rocky as the one that James and Albus had seen in the Penseive. But it probably helped that the Invisibility Booster had been fixed over the years. After a long while, James noticed that the train started to slow down a bit.

Albus's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Well said Albus," Dominique said, pulling out a pack of Exploding Snap.

"I'm so hungry," Olive moaned, finally filing the very last cuticle.

"The trolley would be coming around now," Louis grumbled, clutching his stomach.

"Chocolate Frogs," James muttered, longingly. "Bertie-Bott's Every Flavoured Beans. Pumpkin Pasties. Well, at least we're nearly there."

"What?" Rose asked.

"The train's slowing down," he explained. "We're nearly at Hogwarts."

"Oh yeah!" Ella said, pointing out of the window. "I can see the castle!"

"Oh no!" Poppy said, realizing something. "How are we going to change for the feast?"

"You are just full of negativity today," James said, slowing down even more in synchronization to the train.

"I'm not usually," Poppy replied. "But really, we need to get changed!"

"Yeah, and I'm not changing in front of you guys," Olive put in.

"That goes for me too," Dominique said. "I mean, some of my flesh and blood is in this car!"

"Fair enough," James said. "OK, since we're in full view of the castle, I'll overtake the train and go to Hogwarts." He did so, speedily. Olive and Poppy worried about missing their sister's Sorting, as did Rose with Hugo.

"We won't miss it," James said. "We're ahead of the train! Look, I'm flying above Hagrid's hut right now!" And indeed he was. They could all tell that they were far ahead of the train, because the castle was completely deserted. And in no time at all, James had swiftly landed the car and drawn up slowly outside the castle.

"Well," James said, switching off the ignition. "We're here."

"We'd better go and get changed," Poppy said, dashing out of the car rapidly. The remaining seven followed her and ran to their separate houses, charming their trunks and various pets so that they'd tail them. Within ten minutes, all nine of them were changed. As soon as they met up outside the Great Hall, students started milling in.

"Just in time!" Olive breathed.

"Not used to me getting something right, are you?" James asked a surprised looking Poppy.

"I have to say," she replied, slowly. "It is a first." They laughed and made their way into the Great Hall. They saw Ernie Macmillan talking to the Fat Friar animatedly on the Top Table, as the other teachers took their seats around them. After a few minutes, the Friar flew towards the Hufflepuff table and started chatting to Jack Martin animatedly.

Olive looked over and saw Mat. She waved at her vigorously. Suddenly, Hagrid came into the hall, knocking over a little second year boy in Hufflepuff as he did so. Once the boy was upright again, he strode over to James and Poppy.

"How did you two get here?" he asked, abruptly. "Polly said you all missed the train!"

"Yeah we did," James said. "It's fine though. We flew Uncle Ron's car here. We just arrived about ten minutes ago, and it's parked outside your hut right now."

James had been preparing himself for a scolding or a telling off. But, to his surprise, Hagrid simply smiled looking amused, even proud.

"You are so much like your father," he said, his eyes glistening. "I'd better go."

"That was weird," James said, as Hagrid walked away, wiping his eyes vigorously.

"It's Hagrid," Poppy replied. Suddenly, Bridget Cullen and Damien Willis walked up to them.

"Hi guys!" Bridget said, enthusiastically. "How was your summer?"

"Hi Birdget!" Poppy replied. "It was really good, thanks. How was yours?"

"It was pretty fun." James was looking at her, and then he suddenly noticed that Bridget and Damien were holding hands. Bridget noticed his gaze, and giggled bashfully.

"Bridget and I met unexpectedly in Spain," Damien explained. "We spent two weeks together, and now we're...well, you know..."

"Wow," James said, looking very surprised. "That's great."

"Cool," Poppy said. Bridget looked a little bit fazed. James supposed that they were expecting a bigger reaction.

"Well," she said. "See you guys later."

"Bye Bridge," Poppy said, quietly. She looked at James. "Odd. What do you think that was about?"

"I don't know," James replied. "I've never liked Damien much anyway."

"Yeah, neither of I." The next five minutes included Max coming up to James and clapping him on the back, vigorously. Ella came down and sat beside Poppy and didn't say a word to her for a full minute. Polly was rushing past them all, and stopped abruptly to make sure they were all alright.

"I was getting ready to tell Dad if I didn't see you!" Poppy assured her that they were fine, and she went to sit with the rest of the Gryffindor fourth years.

Suddenly, the huge double doors opened with a bang, announcing the start ot the Sorting.

"Is it just me," James whispered. "Or are they getting smaller?" Indeed, the majority of the first years barely passed Professor Longbottom's waist. He put the Sorting Hat on top of the traditional three-legged stool and stepped backwards. He brought a long scroll of parchment out of his pocket and held it tightly.

The Sorting Hat opened it's brim and began to blast out a long song. James had never had the attention span like the others, so he never listened to the Sorting Hat's song. He couldn't even tell you what the song was about the year he was being Sorted.  
But finally, the song ended, and Professor Longbottom unrolled the scroll of parchment and cleared his throat.

"Adams, Leonie!" he called out, clearly. A small, blonde haired girl walked over to the stool with trembling legs and put the hat on her head. Within a few seconds, the hat yelled:

_Hufflepuff!_

The Hufflepuff table cheered loudly as she joined them.

"Allen, Timothy!" A boy not much taller than Leonie Adams walked over to the stool. He had brown hair and lots of freckles.

_Gryffindor!_

James cheered loudly along with the other Gryffindors as Timothy Allen joined them.

"Barton, James!"

_Gryffindor! _

"Bewley, Yvonne!"

_Ravenclaw!_

"Billington, Jake!"

_Slytherin!_

"Burtley, Evan!"

_Hufflepuff! _

"Carlton, Ruby!" A very pretty girl with long, wavy brown hair walked over to the stool confidently.

_Gryffindor! _

"Definitely grateful for that!" James yelled over the raucous applause, earning a sharp slap on the leg from Poppy.

"Connolly, Edward!"

_Ravenclaw! _

"Crombie, Daisy!"

_Hufflepuff! _

"Cullen, Lucas!" A boy that looked much taller than most of his classmates walked over to the stool. He had long blond hair and lovely, pale, unblemished skin. James distinctly remembered Bridget saying that she had a little brother called Lucas coming this year last term on the Hogwarts Express. Poppy looked over at Olive, who was predictably eyeing him interestedly. Poppy rolled her eyes exasperatingly.

_Gryffindor! _

"Dilly, Pierre!"

_Slytherin!_

"Doting, Stacy!"

_Ravenclaw! _

"Faulkner, Hilary!"

_Ravenclaw! _

"Fenton, Georgina!"

_Gryffindor! _

"Ferps, Liam!"

_Hufflepuff! _

"Finnegan, Heidi!" Heidi walked up to the to the stool looking like she was torn between anxiety and determination. Her red hair caught the starlight dancing on the magical ceiling as she sat down and placed the hat upon her head. Poppy and Olive both crossed their fingers and stared at their expectant-looking little sister. Then, finally:

_Gryffindor! _Olive and Poppy both whooped loudly along with the other Gryffindors.

"Now the whole family have been put into Gryffindor!" Poppy yelled to James. She was so delighted, she barely noticed "Fynn, Daniel!" getting Sorted into _Slytherin! _Several more students got Sorted, and several more stomachs rumbled during the short intervals of cheering.

"Garling, Simone!"

_Hufflepuff! _

"Gill, Eileen!"

_Hufflepuff! _

"Hayes, Macy!"

_Gryffindor!_

"Hennessy, George!"

_Slytherin!_

"Ingram, Charles!"

_Slytherin! _

"Irving, Lucy!"

_Gryffindor!_

"Jacobson, Amy!"

_Huffepuff!_

"Jones, Henrietta!"

_Ravenclaw!_

"Mantle, Juliet!"

_Gryffindor! _

"Another hot one!" James said, as the bouncy blonde made her way to the Gryffindor table. "Ow!" he said, as he felt another slap.

"Morton, William!"

_Ravenclaw!_

"Nott, Cynthia!"

_Slytherin! _

"Richards, Oliver!" A boy who looked about two years older than he evidently was walked over to the stool. He had thick, brown hair and a wide, cheeky grin that most girls would never learn to resist.

_Gryffindor! _

"Riley, Freya!" A small-ish girl with blonde hair the exact same shade as Olive's, but shoulder-length. She was very tanned and very pretty.

_Gryffindor! _

"We're just raking them in, aren't we?" James said, without thinking. Another slap.

"You'd think you would have caught on by now," Poppy muttered.

"Sawyer, Anna!"

_Hufflepuff! _

"Scott, Phoebe!" A small girl with dark brown curls, a bit similar to Rose's but not as wild, walked up to the stool.

_Ravenclaw! _

James looked opposite him and saw Ryan clapping heartily with the Hufflepuffs. He assumed that she must be his sister.

"Tilly, Pierre!"

_Hufflepuff! _

A few more students got Sorted rather rapidly.

"Wallace, Chloe!"

_Gryffindor! _

"Weasley, Hugo!" Hugo walked up to the Sorting Hat, trembling slightly. The Sorting Hat took rather a long time. Then:

_Gryffindor! _

"Wills, Nathan!" A tall boy with thick, brown hair walked up to the stool. He was very attractive. Olive simply gawped at him.

_Gryffindor! _

"Whoa!" James said. "Three Gryffindors in a row!"

Then finally, with "Winslet, Holly" being Sorted into _Ravenclaw!_, the Sorting ended.

Professor Macmillan stood up.

"That's excellent!" he boomed, heartily. "All the first years are Sorted! And now, with no further ado, as the French say, _Bon appetit!_" And with that, the empty tables were suddenly filled with tasty looking dishes, making the tables absolutely groan.

"Lovely!" James said, reaching for the tray of roast potatoes.

"Lisa," Poppy called. "Could you please past the chicken breasts?"

James giggled immaturely.

"What?" Poppy said, receiving the tray from Lisa.

"You said 'breasts'!" he snorted.

"Seriously?" Poppy asked him disbelievingly, helping herself to some stuffing. "Oh God. What are you? Like, five years old?" James went on giggling like a little girl for about five minutes. Then, the snorts finally subsided.

"James, what are we going to do with the car?" Poppy asked. "It's still packed outside Hagrid's hut."

"We'll sort it out," he replied, with a wink.


	20. Girly Chats

"Promise you'll look after Freya for me."

"For the hundredth time, I will!"

It was exactly twenty-eight hours after the Sorting and Mat and Olive were in the girls' bathroom (not Moaning Myrtle's) re-applying their makeup and discussing the fact that Freya Riley had been Sorted into Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw like Mat had hoped.

"Sorry," Mat apologized. "I'm just really worried about her. It's her first year. What's wrong with me? I _never _worry about things!"

"You're a big sister," Olive replied, carefully putting on her thick, black eyeliner. "You're supposed to worry. Poppy worries about me all the time, and, in spite of myself, underneath it all, I do worry about Heidi a little."

"Well, at least you guys are all in the same house," Mat pointed out, putting on blusher.

"I suppose. Have you got any dream matte mousse? I have a sneaky suspicion that Poppy stole mine."

"Yeah sure."

"So," Olive said, finding the little pot of foundation and began dabbing it on her cheeks. "How's it going with Jack?" Mat immediately put down her mascara and turned to face Olive properly.

"Really well Livs," she said. "We wrote to each other nearly every day and he even came to our house to stay for a week."

"He came to your house?" Olive asked, incredulously. "That's so cool! I could never bring a boy to my house. My dad would immediately eye him up and give him the bloody Spanish Inquisition."

"Yeah, my dad was pretty cool about it actually. He and Jack got on like a house of fire. I said to him towards the end, 'If I didn't know any better, I'd think you liked my dad more than you like me.' And then he said, 'Nah, that's not possible.'"

"Aw! He's so sweet!"

"I really, really like him, Olive. And our relationship lasted for three months. That's got to mean something, doesn't it?"

"Yeah sweetie." Olive gave her best friend a hug and they made their way out of the bathroom.

* * *

"Pops, can I borrow your dream matte mousse?" Bridget asked.

"Yeah sure," Poppy replied, flicking through her _Witch Weekly_.

"This stuff is amazing," Brdiget commented, dabbing it on her.

"Oh, I stole it from Olive's makeup bag," Poppy said, nonchalantly.

"What a lovely sister you are."

"Aren't I just? So you and Damien, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"What do you mean, I guess so?"

"I just can't believe it somehow. I mean, Damien is probably the second hottest guy in our year after James. What is he doing with me? He could do way better than the likes of me!"

"Hey, what is that about? You can get any guy you want to. I mean, look at you!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously!" Poppy dropped the magazine and walked over to Bridget, who was sitting on her bed and applying her makeup through a hand mirror. "Bridget, you are so pretty. And you're really bubbly, and smart and nice, and genuine. I mean, you're so full of life. What guy wouldn't want to be with you? If I may be honest, I actually think that _you _could do way better than the likes of Damien."

Bridget looked at Poppy steadily. "Thank you Poppy," she whispered.

"It's alright," she said.

"I love our little girly chats, Pops!"

"Yeah me too, Bridge."


	21. Denial and Scheming

"So, have you talked to Max yet?" Polly Longbottom was playing chess with Olive and she had no checked out, as usual, and was staring into space. This question, however, immediately brought Olive back to earth.

"What?" she asked, somewhat abruptly. "Talk to Max? Why would I do that?"

"Because you still like him and you always think about him," Polly said casually, watching Olive's bishop get beaten up by one of her knights.

Olive scoffed very unconvincingly. "No, I don't! That's ridiculous! Why would you even suggest that?"

"Because it's true."

"I am not having this conversation," Olive said, moving her pawn forward.

"Fine," Polly replied, taking Olive's pawn with one of hers. "I just thought you might want to know that even though Max went to both Sydney and Spain over the summer, he didn't go out with any girls. For the first time in like, a century."

"Why should that interest me?" Olive asked, trying to be nonchalant and failing.

"Alright, you can pretend all you want, Olive. But I know you still like him. I'm not trying to catch you out, I'm just trying to say...just be careful, alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I went out with Max, so I know what he's like. So, just be careful, OK?"

"Well, you don't have to worry Polly," Olive said, moving her queen before Polly's king could get her hands on it. "Because I have no intention of going near Max, so I couldn't be more careful."

"Whatever you say Olive," Polly replied, moving her king. "Just remember what I've said."

"OK. Thanks."

"Checkmate," Polly said with a smile.

* * *

"OK, so I think it's about time you started doing something about James."

Allison Davies and Gemma Brown were sitting in Charms and they were practising _Summoning _charms. It was so noisy and bustly, that the two girls could easily get away with having a conversation and avoiding a scolding.

"What?" Allison asked, trying to Summon a dictionary on the table opposite her, but it merely flopped off the table feebly. "Are you joking? Like he'd be interested in the likes of me!"

"In case you haven't noticed Allie, he's been interested in the likes of you since last year!"

"No, he hasn't."

"Yes, he has!" Gemma insisted. "Allie, we're in second year now! We're not little first years anymore!"

"So? There are plenty of pretty girls in his year. _Why _would he look at me?"

"Allie, you know he likes you, you're just in denial."

"In denial?" Allie asked, trying and again failing, to Summon the dictionary. "Fine then. What about you and Albus?"

"What about me and Albus?" Gemma asked, trying to keep cool but blushing violent scarlet.

"Welll," Allie went on. "He quite clearly likes you. You two have been flirting for a whole year now. _When _are you going to get a move on?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Gemma lied, Summoning a pen that Terrence Newton had in his hand opposite them.

"Yes, you do! You're going red!"

"It's hot in here."

"Whatever. You're just in denial."

"OK," Gemma said, holding her hands up. "OK. I get your point. I'll stop. But I wasn't just trying to be annoying though. You two clearly like each other. And you would be such a good couple."

"Yeah, so would you and Albus."

"OK, stop!"

"Well, I guess you're right. I do really like James. But there a few problems."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that he's in second year. The fact that a fair few of my friends are related to him. And I'd say his three choices would definitely not incluude me."

"So, who do you think they'd include?"

"Poppy Finnegan, Bridget Cullen and Felicity Matthews."

"OK Allie, two of those girls are his best friend and one of them he doesn't even talk to."

"OK, assuming that the one he doesn't talk to is Bridget, you're wrong. I've been seeing him giving her the eye lately."

"That's because he's a boy! It's only because of her looks! What he feels for you is so much more than that!"

"How do you know?"

"Because my dear, I am not blinded by love."

"Neither am I!"

"So, you keep saying!"

"Let's just get on with the Summoning, alright?"

* * *

"So, when are you finally going to admit to everyone that you're just using Bridget to make Poppy jealous?"

Max and Damien were skimming stones at the Lake, having run into each other.

"Errm never," Damien replied, promptly. He turned as he skimmed his last stone. "And you won't either, will you?"

"I just don't get why you're doing it," Max went on, avoiding the question cleverly.

"Well, I like Poppy and Bridget likes James. So, together we thought we'd make them jealous. It works both ways."

"So, what, you just said, 'Bridget, will you go out with me so that we can both make Poppy and James jealous?'?"

"No. I asked her properly at first, then after about a week I was like, 'Bridget, I'm really sorry, but I'm going out with you for the wrong reasons. I'm only doing it to make Poppy jealous.' And then she said, 'Oh no, that's alright. Because I'm doing it to make James jealous.' So, we just left it at that."

"That is so weird," Max replied, finally.

"You won't say anything, will you?"

"James is my best friend. Although, I do like knowing something that he doesn't know. OK then, I won't say anything."

"Wow, you're easily bought Max."

"Yeah, I know."

"So, what about you and Olive?"

"What about me and Olive?"

"Well, forgive me for being behind, but didn't you like her like once upon a time?"

"I still do.."

"But?"

"But, she made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. And also, Poppy threatened to twist my arm until it ripped out of it's socket if I ever went near her little sister again. You sure you want to associate yourself with that, Damien?"

"Positive. But hey, if you need a plan, you can always take a leaf out of my book. Make her jealous somehow. Go out with her sister or something. Actually no don't because her sister is Poppy, and if you go near her _I _will rip your _other _arm out of it's socket. And if you go near her Heidi, well, then your arms probably still aren't safe from either Poppy or Olive, and it would make you kind of a pervert. Well, maybe her best friend then."

"Her best friend's Mat, and she's taken."

"Well, she must have other best friends. She's a girl."

Max rolled his eyes at Damien's ridiculous and far-fetched ideas. Or..were they so ridiculous and far-fetched? He sounded a bit like an idiot, but maybe his plan wasn't so stupid. Girls did get jealous easily. Hmmm...maybe there was a way, after all.


	22. Rash Decisions

A week had gone by since Max and Damien had had the conversation by the Lake, and Max had been thinking about it ever since. Of course, the ideal girl to go out with would be Mat Riley, but she was going out with Jack Martin in second year. He knew she had other friends, but he couldn't place a particular one that would particularly get under Olive's skin.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and he couldn't think of anything else to do, so he'd gone to the library. Yes, it really had come to that. He'd really sunk to that level. He might as well. He and James were always behind on their homework, and the weekend was always a good time to catch up. Although, he wasn't doing much of that. He was chewing the end of his quill and staring out of the window opposite him.

Suddenly, he heard some giggles and he saw two girls. It was Olive...and Allison Davies. Hmm. They seemed to be getting along really well. They appeared to be having a good old gossip, as girls do. Hmm, maybe Max had hit the jackpot.

* * *

"Poppy, how come you never like anyone?"

"Because there's no one here worth the energy." Poppy was sitting in the common room with Polly and Olive, who was doodling on a sheet of parchment at the corner of the table.

"Pops, you don't have to be so cynical all the time. You can time out for like five minutes, just to be serious."

"But I was being serious."

"So, you're saying that there's no one at Hogwarts that's likeable?"

"Well, I suppose that there is the type that you could obsess over for about three days and then forget about, but not ones that actually worth liking."

The next day found everyone in dismal moods, laziness and bluntness, as Monday mornings usually do. But everybody cheered up by late afternoon, and eyes slowly began to open wider, seeing that Allison and Max were paying a lot more attention to the other than usual.

"Has anyone noticed Max and Allison?" Mat asked, walking to supper with Olive, Millie, Rose, Gemma and Lily.

"Yeah! I know!" Rose agreed. "I've noticed that too! It's so weird!"

"It is really strange," Gemma put in. "I mean, Allison likes James. What would she be doing with Max?"

"I don't know," Millie answered. "Maybe she's trying to make him jealous."

"No, I don't think so," Lily said. "I don't think they're going that far. I think it's probably just harmless flirting. What do you think, Olive?"

"I don't know," Olive replied. "Why would I care what Max gets up to?"

"Well," Rose said, carefully. "You don't have to care about him, but what about Allison? She's one of your best friends, after all."

Olive merely shrugged and walked to the Gryffindor Table at a mucher quicker pace than the rest of them.

* * *

"Mat, I'm worried about Olive." Later on that week, Poppy met Mat on the third floor corridor, and since she was Olive's best friend, she decided to tell her her woes.

"That makes two of us," Mat replied.

"Really? You two?"

"Yeah. I feel like she's lost some of her spark. She spends lots of her time being quiet and brooding and just staring into space. And I know she still has feelings for Max, because whenever he's mentioned, she goes stiff as a board and says little more than nothing. Whenever I confront her about him, she just denies it."

"Your suspicions are just the same as mine, Mat. But I don't want her to be. She deserves so much better than Max."

"She's been so down this week. She says she's just worried about our homework, but I know it's because Max and Allison have been flirting so much. They've spent most of this week withe each other."

"I've noticed that too. Poor Olive."

"I know. But I can't get anything out of her."

"I know. Olive's always been a closed book. Can I just ask you this, Mat? Please look after my little sister?"

"Sure. Can I ask the same of you?" Poppy smiled. She knew tha Mat had been worried about the fact that Freya had been Sorted into Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw.

"Sure." Mat left her with a returning smile to go and meet Jack. On the way, she saw Allison and Max sitting on a windowsill. Allison gave her a smile. Mat did not return it.

* * *

"So," Max continued, as Allison turned away from Mat with a confused expression.

"So," Allison answered. "How's Quidditch?"

"Not bad," Max said.

"Archie's still Captain then?"

"For now," Max said lazily, flicking his hair.

"Quite sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"Nah, I'm just joking. Archie's a really good Captain. He'll probably be Captain till he leaves."

"And then?"

"Well, then James will be Captain." Allison felt a surge in her stomach as she heard James's name, but she simply ignored it.

Max and Allie kept going with they're conversation, but kept quite for a few minutes. Then, suddenly:

"Allie, will you go out with me?"

**_Of course,_ **she thought. **_I know what I really should say. No. But why? I mean, what's the real harm in it? I mean, yes, Olive had liked him once upon a time. But she's over him now. She said so. What else is there? Oh yeah. He was a complete player, of course. And he might be on to some new girl this time next week, I know that. But there's something about that that's quite...exciting. Exhilerating. And another reason: I don't really like him. Although, it would probably be a great way to attract James's attention and make him jealous. After all, Max is his best friend. And who better to make a guy jealous than his best friend?_**

Allie had answered all these questions and doubts. But there was still a barrier stopping her from saying yes. She knew what it was. She didn't really like him. But so what? There was a reason for her going out with him. To get James...and because she just really wanted someone to look at her the way Jack looked at Mat. This reason might not have been the best one, but it was sufficient enough to make her say:

"OK."


	23. Drama, Drama and More Drama!

_OK, this update is just about the most dramatic that guys can get! I dedicate this chapter to Love2Love, because I'm pretty sure she'd have some comments to say about it! _

_Enjoy!_

_Love,  
HL.  
xxx_

* * *

"Wait, _what_?"

"Allison Davies is going out with Max Bailey!"

"No!"

"How do you know?"

"My sister told me."

"Oh my God!"

"I know!"

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Heidi Finnegan was in the girls' bathroom with Freya Riley, Ruby Carlton and Juliet Mantle. Heidi was feeding them the juicy gossip that she had heard from Poppy last night. Allison and Max were going out!

"Since when?" Ruby asked.

"Since last night," Heidi said, brushing her hair in the mirror. "Apparantly they were just talking and he asked her, and she said yes."

"That is generally how it works Heidi," Juliet pointed out.

"Shut up, Jules."

"So, what does your sister think about it?" asked Freya.

"Poppy?" Heidi asked. "She feels alright about it. Well, she hates Max's guts, if that's what you mean."

"No, your other sister, you dope!"

"Oh, Olive." Heidi stopped and put her hairbrush down. "Not so good. She's trying to pretend that she's OK, but I know she's not. She didn't come down for breakfast this morning, so I went up to her dormitory to see her. She was just in a little ball at the end of her bed. I knew she was awake, because she didn't make any of the snuffling sounds she usually makes when she's asleep, but she was pretending to be. She wouldn't answer me at all whenever I spoke. She didn't even move, she just lay there. Apparantly she hasn't said a word to Allison since last night either, and they're in the same dormitory!"

"Wow," Ruby sighed. "Poor Olive."

"I know," Heidi agreed. "I hate when she's like this. She's always been a closed book, but when something's really bothering her, she just stays silent and doesn't talk to anyone. I can't do anything for her. I hate when this happens."

"That sucks Heidi," said Freya. "Mat said she can't get through to her either."

"Well this isn't even the worst stage," Heidi went on. "When she's really upset is when this happens, and then she acts really, really happy."

"What?" Jules asked. "What do you mean? Why is that a bad thing?"

"Because she is putting it on. It's just a mask, trying to hide what she really feels. She always does it. Olive's always been like that. She has always been the type of girl who won't even acknowledge her feelings herself, let alone let anyone else see them."

"Wow," Ruby sighed again. "Who knew Olive was so deep?"

"I know. But aside from that, she can also get really, really angry. Like _scary _angry. She even scares Poppy when she's like that. I hope she can keep her temper."

* * *

"Maybe you need a punching bag or something?" Gemma said, watching Olive fighting back her tears and kicking the base of her four-poster bed, angrily.

"How about Allie's head?" she replied, through gritted teeth.

"Now Olive," Gemma said, slowly. "I know you're upset, and you have every right to be. But you have to calm down!"

Olive stopped kicking the bed abruptly, and panted heavily. "Sorry," she said, quietly. A tear rolled down her right cheek slowly.

"Oh Livs," Gemma said nurturingly, getting off the safety of her own bed and going to give Olive a hug. This was most bizarre. She had never seen Olive cry before. It wasn't that different, other than the fact that her eyes had gotten a little bigger, and of course, the tears.

"It's all my fault!" Olive sobbed. "I should've admitted that I still had feelings for Max!"

"Olive, it's not your fault! We all knew! Allison knew! She shouldn't have said yes to him!"

"I can't _believe _her!"

"Has she said anything to you?"

"No, but apparantly she's tried to. But Mat and Rose said that it wasn't the right time to speak to me. But it is now. I want an explanation."

"What?" Gemma gasped, as Olive suddenly pulled away from her and walked quickly across the dormitory, towards the door. "Whoa, Olive! Don't go starting a war with Allie! That's not going to help!"

Olive wheeled around. "Allie started this war, Gem, not me." And with that, she walked out of the door, Gemma rushing at her heels.

* * *

"Mat! Mat! Mat, please slow down and talk to me!"

Mat had walking along the third floor corridor, when she met Allison. Intending on giving her the cold shoulder, Mat had given her a scathing look and walked past icily.

She wheeled around when Allison said this, looking livid.

"Give me one good reason why I should," she said, coldly.

"Because I'm your friend!"

"Just like you were a friend to Olive? I think I'll pass if that's your definition of a good friend."

"Come on, Mat, don't be like that! Olive is over Max!"

"Oh, come on Allie! Stop trying to make yourself feel better! You know perfectly well that Olive is _not _over Max! She never has been, no matter what he tells us!"

"Please, Mat, don't give me a hard time!"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about me! Olive's coming now, and I'd worry about the hard time she's going to give you if I were you." And Mat slipped away tactfully, as Olive walked down the corridor, steaming, Gemma not far behind.

"Olive, don't!" Gemma exclaimed, lunging forward and grabbing Olive's shoulder, trying to pull her back as she got closer to Allie."

"Get off me Gemma," she replied, shortly. She turned to face Allie. "I don't even know what to say to you."

"Olive, listen-"

"How could you? _Why _would you? You don't even like him! You like James!"

"Listen, I'm sorry about the way it turned out but-"

"How could you do this to me?"

"Do what to you? Olive, you said you didn't like him anymore!"

"Allie, don't be so stupid! You _knew _that I still did, no matter what I said! You're one of my best friends, and you did this to me!"

"Olive, you're making way too big a deal out of this. He's a guy, he asked me out so I said yes. That's it."

"But other people's feelings get hurt in the process!"

"Yours! That's it! Just your feelings!"

"And James's! What? You don't think he's going to care that the girl he likes is going out with his best friend?"

"Olive, please."

"It's OK. At least know I know what kind of friend you are. It just sucks because I cared about your feelings."

"Olive, I _do _care about your feelings!"

"Evidently not. Otherwise you wouldn't be going out with Max right now. Max. Why Max, Allie? Of all people!"

"Olive, I'm so sorry that you feel this way. But I don't what else I'm meant to do. You wouldn't be this upset if it were some other girl!"

"Yeah, but it's not other girl! It's you! My friend did this to me!"

"OK. I'm so, _so _sorry I did this to you. But you're wrong about James. He won't even care, he barely notices me."

"Well, shows how much you pay attention to James."

* * *

"You!"

James had finally tracked Max down near the statue of Barnabas the Barmy.

"James, just calm-"

"I'm not going to waste much breath on you, Max! I'm just going to say that I know you move around girls a lot, but to the girl I like? That's low, even for you! And you're supposed to be my best friend!"

"What? You like her?"

"Don't give me that! You _knew _I liked her!"

"No, James! I really didn't! I just thought you had a little thing for her! I mean, you have a thing for everyone! The only girl that you've never said you liked was Poppy!"

"Ew!"

"I just never thought it was that serious!"

"Well, it is! And now you're going out with her!"

"Well, I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

"Well, now you do. Whatever. I hope you're happy anyway."

Leaving Max looking confused and uncomfortable, James stormed away.


	24. Honesty

Two weeks had past since the infamous "Allie Davies and Olive Finnegan Cat Fight" and the "James Potter and Max Bailey Blow-Out". Olive had only smiled three times that week (that's right, so little times, that she could count them!) and Mat had never spent less time with Jack than ever. Mat was always a girl who knew her morals. Friends came before boyfriends at all times. Olive was her best friend, and seeing as Allison was proving that she wasn't the friend they'd all trusted her to be, Mat had spent most of her time with Olive.

The buzz at the whole piece of gossip had long since worn off from most of Hogwarts. Only Olive, James, Allison and Max seemed to be living with the aftermath of it all. Olive was upset because one of her best friends was going out with someone she still had feelings for. Allison was upset because she had upset one of her best friends unintentionally, and possibly, the guy she was doing all this for in the first place. Max was upset because he also had upset his best friend, and apparantly, the girl he was intending to make jealous, not hysterical. And James was upset because his best friend had gone after the girl he liked, and also had upset his other best friend's little sister. A disastrous and ridiculous tangled web it certainly was.

Mat and Poppy were the only two that Olive confided in, and that wasn't even the whole thing. With everybody else, she just kind of hung around them and didn't say much. People had even started referring to her as the Walking Dark Cloud of Gloom. Until the next Monday, that was.

Olive Finnegan walked over to Ravenclaw Tower on the morning of Monday 1st November, and waited. And waited. And waited. Scores of Ravenclaws came out, looking at her curiously and wondering what she was doing. Then finally, Mat walked out.

"Hi Olive," she said, uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"

"Morning!" Olive sang. "Sorry! I didn't know your password obvivously, so I just waited outside the door."

"But why?" Mat asked, still looking confused.

"Well, I woke up at six this morning and I decided to go down to the Lake because it was such a nice morning. Then, I decided to come up here and wait for you to go to breakfast."

"You woke up at six?"

"Yeah."

"And, a nice morning? Olive, it's the beginning of November!"

"I know. It was nice and frosty and breezy."

"OK," Mat said, making her way down to breakfast with Olive in tow. "You're in a good mood this morning."

"I know."

"Are you not still feeling upset about.."

"Oh, the fact that Allison is still going out with Max after two weeks even though she knows it hurts me? Of course not! I've decided that I'm not going to let things like that get to me!"

"That's good, I guess. I'm glad your feeling better."

When they go to the Great Hall, Mat had to leave Olive and sit at the Ravenclaw Table and Olive joined the other Gryffindors. They were all surprised to see her smiling.

"Hi Olive," Gemma saud, uncertainly.

"Morning, guys!" Olive sung, brightly. "Jack, can you please pass the milk?"

"Yeah, sure," he replied, looking uncertain as he passed the great jug.

"Olive, how can you be so happy in the morning?" Violet asked. "My eyes are still half-closed."

"I know!" Victoria agreed. "You look like someone stuffed a hanger in your mouth while you were sleeping!"

"Any particular reason for your Chesire Cat look?" Daphne asked.

"No reason," Olive said, pouring milk on her Cheerios.

"Come on," Violet said, smiling. "Someone must have put that smile on your face!"

"Nope, not really." Just then, Poppy came past with James, and as he walked forward to sit with the other Gryffindor third years (he was always careful to sit on the bench opposite to Max's these days) she stopped beside Olive.

"Hi Livs, how are you?"

"Fine," Olive replied brightly, grabbing a piece of toast and marmalade.

"Really?" Poppy asked, disbelievingly. After all, this time yesterday Olive still had the traces of her running mascara.

"Yeah, why shouldn't I be?"

"No reason. It's just the whole Allison thing. I mean, aren't you still upset?"

"No," Olive said, her voice cracking a little bit in spite of herself. "I'm fine."

"Oh no Olive," Poppy sighed.

"What?"

"You're doing that thing again."

"What thing?"

"That thing where you pretend that you're happy when everything's fine, when it's really not!"

"I'm not! Everything is fine!"

Poppy sighed again and shook her head slowly. She knew much better than to argue with Olive; she was so stubborn. So she simply said,

"OK, Olive. If you insist. Just...come and talk to me if you ever feel like it."

She walked past Olive and met Mat, who was on her way out.

"Mat, please can you just keep an eye on Olive. She's doing that thing where she pretends that she's fine, but it's all an act! That's always the last stage before she blows out completely!"

"I thought that's why she might've been acting so weird this morning. Yeah, I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thanks Mat."

* * *

It was the end of the day, and Allison Davies was spending the afternoon up in her bathroom. That was where she tended to spend all her free time these days, since she shared a room with Olive, and calling the tension between them these days awkward would be a huge understatement. She had never experienced a more unhappy fortnight at Hogwarts. Just a small action had ended up hurting so many people. Olive, Poppy, Mat, even herself, and most importantly, James.

What had going out with Max benifited? Nothing. No one was happy about it, she didn't even like him. What benefit was there from this? Well, he was a good kisser. But apart from that. Allison liked spending time with him, but it was really just like talking to any of her other friends. Well, apart from at least an hour or so sacrificed in conversation about Quidditch and the sacrifice of giving up an hour or so of talking about makeup.

Allie stood up and took a deep breath. She had reached a decision. She walked out of the bathroom door briskly, walking past Olive, Violet and Gemma without a word and went down the girls' staircase.

She looked all around the common room, but Max was nowhere to be seen.

**_He must be in his dormitory_**, she thought. **_Great._**

"Oh, Jack!" she called, as he walked past her. "Do you know where Max is?"

"He's upstairs," he answered.

"Is James up there too?"

"Yeah."

"Could you do me a favour? Could you please go and get him?"

"James?"

"No!" she said, quickly. "No. Max."

"Oh OK. Yeah, sure."

"Thank you."

As Jack made his way up the boys' staircase, Allison went and sat down in the armchair nearest to her. She saw a pile of magazines that some girls had evidently left there having grown bored with them. She started flicking through the _Witch Weekly _at the top of the pile and began to read the regular _Dear Mariella _section. Mariella Krum was _Witch Weekly_'s agony aunt. Allie had just started chuckling and silently making fun of the letters from desperate girls with boy trouble (an act she usually pursued with Olive) when she saw a letter that made her re-read it.

_Dear Mariella,  
I don't know what to do. I like this guy and I wanted to make him jealous, so I went out with this other boy that I don't really like. And now my friend has stopped talking to me. I'm not sure, but I think she likes the guy I'm going out with! I don't know what to do! It's all such a big mess! Please help!_

_Sarah Maybury, Glasgow._

**Dear Sarah,  
This is a very common mistake that a lot of teenage girls make. Don't worry, you are not a bad person. But, in this situation, the best thing to do is to always, _always _be honest. I'm not one to say that honesty is always the best policy, but in this case it is. Tell your boyfriend how you feel, and the boy who you like. And then talk to your friend about it. Don't be afraid to be completely honest. They all deserve to know the truth and will appreciate you telling it.**

**Mariella.**

Allison put down the magazine. It was reading this letter more than anything that gave her the strength to do what she was about to do.

Max walked up to Allie, kissed her on the cheek and sat down in the armchair.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," Allie replied, leaning forward a little. "I need to talk to you."

"What's up?"

"Well, Max...I don't think I can go out with you anymore."

"What? Why?"

"It's just that..we're so different and-"

"Are you really going to use that as a reason not to be together, Allie?"

"No Max, please let me finish," she said, calmly. "I'm sorry, but I really can't go out with you anymore. About a quarter of the reason is because we are so different. But the rest of it is because...I lied to you. About everything. I'm sorry, but I just went out with you because I really, _really _like James and you're his best friend and I wanted to make him jealous. But, of course being the idiot that I am, I didn't think that Olive would still have feelings for you. So, I went out with you. And now I realize how stupid it was, because I really like you Max, but just as a friend. And I hurt one of my best friends, for no good reason. So, I am so sorry I used you. I understand if you hate me now."

Silence followed this speech. Allison didn't really know what to say anymore.

"I don't hate you," Max said. "I'd be a hypocrite if I hated you."

"Why?" Allie asked.

"Because I only asked you out because I was hoping it would make Olive jealous."

"Oh."

"I know. I am so sorry. I started this in the first place."

"No, it's OK!" Allie laughed. "It's actually kind of a relief! Although, now we both look like idiots."

"Allie, you know James likes you as well."

"He does?"

"Why else do you think he was so upset? I just thought he had a little meaningless crush on you. But it's more than that. He actually really, really likes you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and since you've been so honest with me, I think you should do the same to him."

"Really? You know, cos we only broke up like five minutes ago."

"I know. But it's OK."

"Are you sure?"

"It's OK," Max repeated. "Go up and talk to him."

"OK," Allie said, exhaling softly. "Thanks Max."

"It's alright." They both stood up and hugged. Allie smiled, turned around and started walking towards the boys' staircase, froze, then turned around and made her way back to Max.

"Max, you're telling me to be honest. You should do the same." And then she walked up the stairs to James' dormitory.

James and a boy called Miles Campbell were the only ones in their dormitory. James looked up and his face remained expressionless when he saw Allie.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Max isn't here," he said, bluntly.

"I know," she went on, trying to ignore his disencouraging voice. "I came to talk to you actually."

James raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" she tried. She expected him to refuse, but surprisingly, he shrugged his shoulders and followed her out the door.

They didn't say a word as they walked all the way to the Lake. They stopped by the edge, and James picked up a stone and skimmed it while Allie searched desperately for something to say.

"Nice night," she said, lamely. James stopped skimming stones and turned around to face her.

"Are you really going to talk about the weather, Allie?" She laughed.

"I'm so sorry, James."

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"I hurt you. Which was definitely not what my aim was. I only went out with Max to make you jealous. I didn't really like him."

"What? Why did you do that? Why did you want to make me jealous?"

"Because, I thought that you didn't like me. So, I thought you would notice if I went out with your best friend, and maybe even feel a little jealous."

"Seriously? Allie, didn't you realize that I liked you? I've always liked you. Since the first time I saw you. You didn't need to use Max to make me jealous. I thought always felt jealous even whenever I saw you talk to another guy. I got jealous because...it wasn't me you were talking to. I was hurt when you went out with Max, I was, but only because I thought I'd lost you to my best friend."

Allie shook her head. "I always liked you too." There was a silence for a couple of minutes, so Allie, not being a big fan of them, decided to break it again.

"I broke up with Max," she said. James smiled for the first time. "I decided that it was stupid to keep going out with him, especially since I had feelings for his best friend and I'd hurt mine."

"Oh yeah, Olive."

"Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do about that. But it turned out that Max was only going out with me to make Olive jealous so, I suppose it was a two-way street."

"Max and I haven't spoken for two weeks. It's been weird. There is a lot of girly talk going on whenever you don't have your guy best friend. I never noticed that. I mean, Poppy's my best friend but..who do you talk about Quidditch with?"

Allie laughed.

"So, tell me something," James said, putting his hands slowly around her waist. "If you didn't really like Max, and he didn't really like you, and you guys broke up, and I like you and you like me, what's going to happen?"

"Well," Allie said, slowly. "You tell me."

Then slowly, James kissed Allie. When they finally broke apart a few minutes later, Allie was smiling a smile that no one had seen for a long time now.

"Wow," she breathed. "And I thought Max was a good kisser." James gave her a sideways look.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Sorry, that was stupid."

"It's OK. Allie, will you go out with me?"

"That all depends. Will I be hurting one of my best friends?"

"Hmmm, no I think you're done!" They both laughed.

"Then, yes." They kissed again.

"God, two guys in two weeks. What are people going to say about me?"

"Anyone who says anything will have to deal with me, won't they?"

"Oh, OK. Should I be scared?" James laughed.

"I really am sorry, James."

"Hey, I already told you. It's OK. It's forgotten."

"What are you going to do about Max?"

"I'm going to forgive him. We all make mistakes, and I miss my best friend."

"That's good. I hope everything goes OK. I told him to be honest with Olive as well. And I need to talk to Olive as well."

"Maybe you should talk to her tomorrow. Not tonight. Tonight should be about us."

"Yeah, OK." James kissed her on the cheek.

"I've been waiting for this moment for so long," Allie said into the wind.

"Yeah," James replied, softly. "Me too."

And the new found couple kissed again.


	25. Oh, and Even More Drama!

Allison Davies was becoming very popular at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but not for the usual reasons. But because she was the person who had brought everyone the most gossip in three weeks. Everyone had been talking about her when she went out with Max and upset Olive and James in the process, and now everybody was talking about her relationship with James, which had been going on for a week now.

Nearly all of the damage that had been done for had now been repaired (although Bridget had broken up with Damien, seeing as James didn't appear to be jealous). Max and James' friendship had been salvaged with only a few words, girls had stopped giving her scathing looks whenever they passed her in the corridor and even Poppy had forgiven her for hurting her sister.

So, everyone had escaped from the drama more or less unscathed. Everyone that is except for Olive. You see, James and Allison had worked out well pretty much straight away. But Olive was a bit more complex and difficult to please than James had been. Max had gone to talk to her at the same time as Allie had gone to talk to James, and it hadn't exactly gone as he'd planned.

**_FLASHBACK_**

Max walked towards the girls' staircase and then he realized that he wasn't allowed up there. As soon as he was beginning to feel stumped, he saw a little, mousy first year girl who he thought he heard someone say she was called Lucy Irving.

"Hi, Lucy is it?"

Lucy nodded anxiously.

"Can you do me a favour? Can you please get Olive Finnigan in second year? Do you know her?"

"Yeah," Lucy croaked. "She's Heidi sister, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Max said. "Thank you."

Lucy rushed up the stairs quickly. Within one minute, she was back down again.

"She's just coming," she told him.

"Thanks," he said, in slight surprise. He supposed he thought it might be a little bit harder to persuade her to come down. He waited for about ten minutes, and then he finally heard slow, quiet footsteps coming down the staircase and Olive appeared.

"Hi," he said.

"Allie's not here if that's what you were looking for," she said, coldly.

"Olive, if I wanted Allie then I would've just asked Lucy to get her. Actually, Allie and I broke up."

He didn't really know what he'd been expecting, but he hadn't expected silence. Then finally:

"What do you want, Max? I don't know what I'm meant to say."

"Well," Max continued, unabashed. "I mostly just wanted to say, that I'm sorry. For the way I treated you, everything. And I'm sorry that I led you on. But I want you to understand that I really do have feelings for you-"

"Can I just stop you there for a second? Do you just like messing with me as a sport or something? First you flirt endlessly with me and for some reason go out with someone else and then you go out with one of my best friends and the secind you break up you come back to me and tell me you have feelings for you? I mean, what is with you?"

"You want to know the truth? Olive, I was going out with Allie to make you jealous. And she was doing the same thing for James. That's the truth, I swear."

"And you think that's the answer I want to hear? That you used my best friend?"

"No, but-"

"And you think that after I hear that I'll just melt into your arms and it'll all be OK?"

"Olive, I just-"

"Well, the truth is I've never been able to get over you, Max. I still have feelings for you too. But I just can't bring myself to trust you again."

A deafening silence followed these words.

"Is that it?" she prompted. "Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Errm yeah," Max grunted. His voice had gone very hoarse and scratchy.

"Well, I don't think that you using making my best friendAllie to make me jealous is quite good enough for me." And with that, she walked back up the girls' staircase.

* * *

Presently, Allie and James were going for a walk when they passed Hagrid's hut and the Forbidden Forest. As James automatically turned around, still holding Allie's hand, she didn't turn around with him.

"What?" he asked.

"Let's not go back to the castle," she suggested.

"Why not?"

"Do you want to go into the Forbidden Forest?"

"W-why?" James stammered.

"Aw!" Allie said, looking at him somewhat patronizingly. "James, are you scared of the Forbidden Forest?"

He scoffed. "No! Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"OK, well let's go then."

"I would but...we're going to be late for class! So, we'd better go."

"James, it's Saturday."

"I know," he replied, uncertainly.

"So come on then," Allie insisted, leading him into the dark, sinister looking forest. "James, you've been in here before, haven't you?"

"Once," he muttered, looking all around suspiciously. "I never went back after that."

"Why not? What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he shuddered.

Allie laughed. "You are such a baby!"

"I am not! I'm just safety-conscious! Is that so terrible?"

They walked on for about ten more minutes. James jumped at the slightest sound, whether it was the rustling of a leaf or the scurrying of a small animal. Then suddenly, Allison saw something that made her drop James' hand with shock slowly. She gasped.

"What?" said James, startled.

When Allison didn't answer, he prompted her.

"_What?_"

She still didn't answer, but walked forward instead and knelt down, apparantly in front of something. She was staring straight ahead, but when James followed her gaze, he couldn't see anything.

"Allison, what's going on? You're really freaking me out here."

She still didn't say a word, but nodded forwards.

"What are you looking at?" James asked, worriedly.

"Can you not see them?" she finally asked, her voice sounding very croaky and hoarse.

"See what?"

"Thestrals," she said simply, still staring straight ahead.

"Oh," he said, comprehension dawning at last. He knelt down beside her and rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. A couple of minutes passed, and James just watched Allie watching the Thestrals.

"Who did you see die?" he asked, gently.

"My nan," she answered. "Three years ago. Rose told me about Thestrals, but I didn't know that they were here in the castle."

"Have you never seen them before?"

She shook her head. "But I know what they look like."

"What _do _they look like?"

"They look like big, winged horses. They have big, white eyes, black, scaly skin and they're eating what looks like carcuses right now."

"I'm sorry about your nan, Allie."

"It's OK."

* * *

"You're an idiot!"

"Are you finished now?"

"No, one more time. You are an _idiot_!"

As it was a Saturday afternoon, Mat and Olive were walking around the grounds and having their usual chat. Thankfully, Olive was finally back to normal. Not too cheerful, not too sullen, just her usual, sparky self. At last. Mat was critizing her for what Olive thought was around the ninety-millionth time for turning Max down.

"Why didn't you forgive him?"

"Because, Mat, look how quickly he moved on from all the girls. Look how willing he was to just use Allie. It would be next! Give me one good reason why I should have forgiven him?"

"Because you like him," she replied, simply. "And he's crazy about you!"

"Well, he hasn't proven it yet. He hasn't proven that I'm no different to him than all the other girls."

"Oh!" Mat said, realization dawning. "So, that's what this is about!? You want him to prove his feelings for you!"

"Well.."

"Oh, Olive, why do you have to be so difficult! He's a boy! His options are pretty limited! I mean, what do you want him to do? Stand on top of the Gryffindor Table and bellow out his feelings for you?"

"If that's what it takes!"

"Oh my God! You are _such _a woman!"

"And you are?"

Mat sighed. "What I mean is, you are the so the complete stereotypical woman! You're making him jump through hoops!"

"So what? He should jump! He screwed me over! Right now, when I say "Jump", he should be asking "How high?"!"

"Wow, you demand a lot."

"Shut up! Just because you and your boyfriend are all _happy_!"

"Yeah, I know. Can you believe that Jack and I have survived this whole couple-drama thing? It's such a relief! Just watching you go through it makes me tired!"

"Thanks," Olive said, uncertainly. She groaned again as they walked past a few first years. "It's so unfair! How come none of the other years go through this couple-drama crap? Like the first years! They're drama free!"

"What did you just say?"

Olive and Mat wheeled around, making loud crunching noises on the gravel as they did so. They were facing both of their sisters with two girls that they knew were called Jules Mantle and Ruby Carlton. Apparantly, it was Heidi that had just spoken, as she was looking at her older sister with a sort of pitying expression.

"What?" Olive asked. "It's true! You guys don't have any drama what so ever!"

Jules shook her head at this and Freya laughed.

"That's what you think," said Ruby, enigmatically.


	26. Cupid's Role

**_So, Olive thought that the second years were the only ones that got drama?,_** Heidi laughed to herself. **_She really could not be more wrong._**

"Finnigan," Oliver Richards yelled across to her as she doodled on a piece of parchment in the Gryffindor common room. "Go out with me?"

"Ollie," she replied, wearily. "Did you not here the twelve ''no's'' that I gave you yesterday?"

"So, that's a firm no then?" he asked.

"I'm afraid so. Will you stop stalking me now?"

"I'm not stalking you! It's just that I can't believe that you can look like that and stay single! And, I know that I'm, you know, _irresistable_-"

"And cocky," Heidi muttered.

"And I'm just trying to help you out!"

"Well," Heidi started rolling her eyes. "Ollie, as generous as that offer sounds, I think I'll pass."

"OK, but rember Finnigan, I'm always here."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied sarcastically, as he and James Barton walked out of the portrait hole.

As they walked away, Georgina Fenton walked over to Heidi with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Hey Georgie," Heidi said, continuing her drawing on a piece of parchment. "What?" she asked, as Georgie was still smiling.

"Why do you keep playing hard to get with Ollie?" she asked.

"I'm not playing," she said, promptly. "Anyway, why would I even give someone like that the time of day?"

"_I'd _give the time of every hour of every day!"

"Georgie!"

"I'm just saying, he wouldn't have to ask _me _more than once!"

"Well, that's the difference between you and me, Georgie! So, what's up?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, go for it. What's it about?"

"Oh, it's about you liking Nathan."

Heidi, determined not to look up as she had the same problem as Olive whenever she became embarassed, going as scarlet as her chipped nail varnish. She pressed down on her quill so hard that she broke the tip.

"I'll take that as and official confession," said Georgie, smirking with triumph.

"How did you know? I didn't tell anyone! Not even Ruby!" Ruby Carlton and Heidi Finnigan were the official, inseparable duo of the first years. Both girls having similar personalities, bonded almost instantly, and became what you could call the early stage of best friends.

"You may be good at concealing your emotions, a gene which all the Finnigan women seem to have inherited, no offence. But underneath that cool exterior, you're just a girl like me. We learn how to read the signs, Heids. Anyway, it's not a bad thing! Nathan's hot! Why didn't you tell any of us?"

"I don't know," Heidi said, looking up at her as her face got cooler. "I don't really know why. I guess I didn't want him to find out."

"Don't worry," Georgie assured her. "I won't tell anyone. Although, I will tell you what a little birdie told me yesterday."

"What?"

"Well, word on the street is that Nathan likes you."

"What?" Heidi repeated, startled. Of all things, this was not what she'd been expecting. "Wh-How-How do you know?"

"Because he told me," Georgie replied, simply. "Straight from the horse's mouth."

"Well, if that's the case, then it's not the word on the street."

"What?"

"Well, you said it was the word on the street. And then you said you heard it straight from the horse's mouth. It can't be both. It's either one or the other."

"Are sayings really the thing your focusing on right now? Nathan likes you back! You should be going to town right now!"

"What is it with you and the fancy expressions today?"

"Heidi!"

"OK! Sorry! I am really happy! If he asks, I guess you can tell him that I like him back. Then, maybe he'll ask me out."

"Yay! A ray of emotion from Heidi Finnigan!"

Heidi laughed. "Well, I do really like him so, might as well give it a try. You know, nothing ventured nothing gained! Yes, I used a fancy expression too!"

"It's fun, isn't it?"

Heidi laughed again and agreed that it was fun.

"So," Georgie sighed, sitting back with satisfaction in the knowledge that her role as Cupid had been fulfilled. "Now that we've sorted you, what about me? You haven't asked me who I like yet."

"Oh Georgie, that's cos' you like everyone."

"Hey!"

As the two girls laughed heartily about it, Tim Allen and Nathan Wills himself walked into the Gryffindor common room. Ruby walked down the staircase, greeted the boys and started walking towards Georgie and Heidi. Nathan caught Heidi's eye and smiled. She returned it shyly, very aware of Georgie staring at her.

"Well," she said. "Speaking of the hot, dreamy devil!"

"Very funny!"

"Oh my God! He's coming over! Well, that's my cue to leave!"

"What?" Heidi said abruptly, in the middle of repairing the nib of her quill. "No! Georgie, don't go!"

"Do you think I'm going to stay here in the corner while he's going to ask you out!?"

"You don't even know he's going to ask me out!"

"Trust me, he's going to! And I'm not going to be here when he does! Bye, good luck! Tell me all about it later! OK, bye!"

As Georgie got up and turned around to walk away, she bumped into Ruby who has just about to sit down with Heidi.

"Hey Rubes!" Heidi said, cheerfully. "Please, sit with me!"

"Hey Heidi!" Ruby replied. "Err yeah, that was the plan."

"Well, not anymore," Georgie said, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from Heidi.

"Good luck!" Georgie hissed, as Nathan got closer.

"Wha-what?" Ruby said, confused.

"I'll explain on the way," Georgie replied. As they were walking, they came face to face with Nathan.

"Hey guys," he said.

"Hi Nathan," Georgie said. "Are you planning on asking Heidi out soon?"

Nathan looked like he was about to answer, but then said: "You ask way to many questions."

"So, is that a yes?"

"Well, I was actually planning to ask her out now."

"Oh," Georgie said. "Cool. I guess _now _my role as Cupid has been fulfilled! Bye Nathan! Good luck!"

"Don't ask her in a cheesy way, OK?!" Ruby called as they walked away. They met Jules on the way back up the girls' staircase.

"Hey!" she said, jauntily. Ruby and Georgie both forced her back up the staircase.

"What are you doing?" she said.

"We'll explain upstairs," Georgie said, wearily. "Cupid gets tired people!"

Meanwhile, back in the common room, Nathan and Heidi were talking. Not anything big, unimportant small-talk really. Until:

"So," Nathan said. "Heidi, there actually was actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh yeah," Heidi replied, nonchalantly. "What about?"

"Well," he started, sighing. "I'm sorry, you'll have to forgive me. I've never been much good at expressing my emotions."

"Trust me, if anyone knows how you feel, it's me. My sisters and I wrote the book on the inability to let out your emotions."

Nathan laughed. "OK, well then you'll forgive me my ineloquence in my next speech."

**_Ineloquence? _**Heidi thought. **_Wow, he's smart as well!_**

"OK," Nathan sighed, again. "Heidi, what I'm trying to say is that I like you a lot. I have for a while now, and I'm sure that about a million guys say this, but, even though we've only known each other for a few months, I don't really feel this way about girls very often. So, I guess I am trying to ask you out."

"OK," Heidi replied. "Well, Nathan, I like you too. But, all my life I've always listened to the advice of my two older sisters. You know them, right?"

"Yeah, Poppy and Olive."

"Yeah. See, in this situation, Poppy, the oldest, would tell me to play hard to get and make it as difficult as possible for you. But Olive, the middle child, would tell me to get over myself and just go for it. Poppy is usually the one with the right judgement, but I think this time I think I'll listen to Olive."

"So..." Nathan said, slightly confused. "Is that a yes?"

Heidi smiled. "Sorry, I tend to ramble a lot. Yes, that's a yes!"

"Cool," Nathan said, and he smiled too. It was the typical young, naive, awkward moment. The boy and girl smiling at each other for far too long a time. They even got the awkward hug to perfection.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," Heidi said, as soon as they broke apart. "I meant it when I said I ramble a lot! And that's compared to Olive!"

"Sounds like something I can cope with," he said, with that award-winning smile of his.


	27. Trivial Rubbish and Gossip

"Oh my God! You have a boyfriend? Who is he?"

The next day, being a Sunday morning, Olive and Heidi were walking to breakfast at half past eight, and Heidi had just given her the news of her and her new boyfriend.

"Oh my God!" Olive said again. "My little sister has a boyfriend at Hogwarts before me!"

"Err," Heidi stammered. "Not the reply I was expecting but, thanks I guess."

"Sorry!" she insisted, as they walked into the Great Hall. "So, which one's Nathan? Please don't tell me he's in Slytherin!"

"There's nothing wrong with the Slytherins anymore!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, they might have changed and everything, but the way Dad talked about them, I'm not so convinced. So, which one's Nathan?"

"Well, he's in Gryffindor too. He's.." Heidi stopped to navigate to whereabouts Nathan was sitting. Her finger finally sought him out, sitting inbetween Lucas Cullen and Ollie Richards. Olive gawped.

"Oh, my God!" she said, for the third time. "Three hot guys in a row! Which one's Nathan?"

"The one in the middle," Heidi said. "Please don't scare him."

"Please, Heidi! Our older sister is Poppy, and you're worried that _I _will scare him?"

"Oh God, you're right. I'd better talk to her before he runs into her himself. Then, it'll be too late!"

"Well, I'd speed it up. There're only a few metres away from each other." She pointed at where Poppy was sitting, and Heidi realized that Nathan was sitting on the same bench with only a few people inbetween them.

"Oh no," Olive muttered. "There's only one space with my own year and that's beside the happy couple." Olive, of course, was referring to Allie and James.

"Don't you think it's time to forgive Allie?" Heidi suggested. "I mean, she really is sorry. And she's one of your best friends. I mean, what if it were Poppy instead of Allie. And don't say you wouldn't have forgiven her, because I know you would have."

"That's different!" Olive insisted. "She's my big sister! And even so, I still would've been really angry."

"What about Mat? She's your best friend."

"I wouldn't have forgiven Mat by now either, if that's what you mean!"

"OK, but either way, I still think you should make it up. She misses you."

"How do you know?"

"Because, she might be with her boyfriend, but she keeps looking at you sadly." Olive looked at her, and Allie was fiddling with a crumpet and looking very upset.

"At least talk to her Olive," Heidi insisted. "Stop being so stubborn."

"Fine," she replied, begrudgingly. "Fine, I'll talk to her."

"I don't suppose there's any point in me asking you to talk to Max as well?"

"Nope. No point whatsoever. I'll see you later." Olive walked away from Heidi and, very slowly and reluctantly, walked towards the only vacancy available: the one beside Allie.

"Hi," she said, looking up as Olive sat down beside her.

"Hi," Allie said, looking slightly surprised. Just as Olive had time to spread butter on her toast and pour milk on her Weetabix, most people in the vicinity got up to go. In fact, everyone except for Allie.

"Don't worry," she said, with a slight smile. "I'll wait for you."

"Great," Olive replied, reaching for sultanas and sprinkling them on her Weetabix. "That's made up for everything."

Allie looked unabashed, but Olive knew her well. She was just like her, pretending that everything was OK, but really, the words stung.

"Look Olive," she said. "I would say I'm sorry for the millionth time. But, what good will it do? You won't even listen to me-"

"Can you pass the strawberries, please?" Olive interrupted.

"I will as soon as you hear me out," Allie insisted. "Please, Olive. I am so so sorry. I made a huge, stupid mistake. Come on, I'm only human! We all make mistakes! And I want you to know, that I regret it all. I miss my friendship with you, and..I just hate you being angry with me."

A small silence followed this.

"Can you pass the strawberries, please?" Olive repeated. Allie shook her head with disappointment and passed the little bowl of strawberries to Olive, who promptly took a few and put them into her now full bowl of Weetabix. She took a spoon, ate a mouthful and then she finally started talking.

"I want to forgive you Allie," she said. "I do. I miss you too. I mean, I'm not even angry anymore. I'm just upset. I don't know, it just doesn't seem fair! I'm the one who got hurt in the first place, one of the sources being you. But somehow, you still manage to go off and be happy with the guy that you actually like, and I'm stuck in the same lousy place as I was to start with! Hurt and betrayed by my friend, and heartbroken by the guy that no matter what I do I _still _have feelings for! Say it were the other way around for a second. Does that seem fair to you?"

After a pause, Allie shook her head.

"No," she said, quietly. "No, it doesn't. But Olive, I may have made you unhappy for a period of time, and that is what I have been apologizing for for God knows how long. But even so, with everything else, I can't force to be happy. Nothing is stopping you write now from going to Max and making it up with him. I'm certainly not. The only person that is, is you. I don't mean to be blunt, but that is the truth."

"I know it is," Olive agreed, mushing her soggy Weetabix around thoughtfully.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

She shrugged. Allie took a deep breath.

"Olive," she said, slowly. "Is there any way that you could forgive me?"

Olive smiled. "I already have."

"So," Allie said, carefully. "Does that mean we're-"

"Yeah," Olive said, smiling. "We're friends again!"

Allie grinned and the two girls shared a hearty hug.

"By the way," Olive said. "You're never allowed to say the word sorry ever again!"

"You wouldn't talk to me!" Allie argued. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"OK! OK, fair enough. And for what it's worth, I am happy for you and James."

"Thanks."

The two girls reunited and talked about what they usually did. Trivial rubbish and gossip. As it should be.


	28. Wow!

_Hi guys! It's been a while since I left one of these! I'd just like to say thank you to all my reviewers for reading and being faithful reviewers..I'd just like to ask..Miriamimus, Precious Ink and Love2Love: where the hell are all you guys? _

_I'm going to dedicate this chapter to FaithfulHPReader, because well, you really are a Faithful HP Reader, and also a faithful reviewer! _

_Thanks guys! Enjoy and review! No flames! _

_Love,  
HL.  
xxx_

* * *

It was the 29th November, probably one of the most freezing nights that Hogwarts had ever experienced. Olive's birthday was coming up soon, and since she'd made an impact on so many people in the past year, it was not a surprise that a vast amount of people were worrying over what to get her for her birthday. Particularly, her two sisters.

Heidi was discussing her gift dilemma with Georgie, Ruby, Jules and Freya, who were lingering in the girls toilet and thinking hard.

"Why can't _anyone _come up with a good present for Olive this year?" Heidi asked, disbelievingly.

"Because no one has the money to meet her standard?" Freya suggested.

Everyone looked slightly confused.

"What?" said Freya, defensively. "That's what my sister said!"

"That is true," Heidi agreed. "Olive does have expensive taste. I would get her jewellery, but I bought her a necklace last year."

"So, buy her earrings this year," Jules suggested, filing her nails.

"That's imaginative," Heidi replied, eyeing the nail file. "And you're doing that wrong. My mum taught me. You're supposed to go to the left first and sweep it gently to the right. That way, your cuticles don't become sharp or jagged. You know what? It's easier by magic. My mum taught me a really useful charm, I'll show you."

Within ten minutes, Jules had perfectly long, round and sharp nails with a thick coat of dark red nail varnish on each one.

"Wow," she said. "They look perfect! Thanks, Heidi!"

"No problem," Heidi said, modestly.

"Yeah, well done Heidi," Georgie agreed. "Thatr is quite a waste of time!"

"Hey, you wouldn't be saying that if you had perfect nails like me and Jules!" Heidi insisted.

"I have a French manicure," Georgie said, holding up her right hand as proof. "I got it done in the old-fashioned way. At a beauty salon near my house."

Georgie was a half-blood. Her father was a wizard but her mother was a Muggle, so she often did things in the Muggle way. For example, she took the Muggle train to Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Just then, Allison, Mat and Poppy walked in.

"Hi," Poppy said. "What are you guys doing?"

"Helping me figure out what to get Olive for her birthday," Heidi said, pulling out a piece of parchment and quill from her pocket.

"That's funny," Allie said, balancing on one of the sinks. "We were just doing the same thing."

"We might as well do it togther," Heidi said. She wrote at the top of the parchment: **Heidi's Gift Ideas **and underlined it twice.

For about ten minutes, Heidi, Mat, Poppy and Allie brainstormed over what to get they're friend or sister. Then suddenly, after silly suggestions of calendars and drawings, Heidi suddenly got a bright idea.

"Guys!" she said. "What about this?"

* * *

Olive's birthday came around two days later, 1st December. Allie, Poppy, Mat and Heidi were sitting down and waiting for Olive to come down. Gemma and Violet had agreed to come down to breakfast with Olive and purposefully sit with them all! Sure enough, the three girls came towards them, Olive sporting a pair of white Aviators perched on her head.

"Hey Livs!" Poppy said, getting up to hug her little sister. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks guys!" she said gleefully, looking around at all of the. "Wow, it's like a welcoming committee!"

"Happy birthday!" the rest of them chimed.

"Sit down!" Mat said, excitedly. "We want to give you our present!"

"You guys all got me presents?" Olive asked, obeying Mat and sitting down.

"Err," Heidi stammered. "Well, we all got you a _present_. Note the singular tense: _present_." Olive laughed.

"We all got you one big present," Allie explained.

"Aw!" Olive gushed. "That's so sweet! Yay! Let's have it!"

"OK," Poppy sighed, signalling to Heidi. Promptly, Heidi pulled out a large, glossy, navy book and handed it to Olive, who looked very surprised.

"A book!" she said, feebly. "Wow, what a great idea! Everyone knows how I like to read in my spare time!"

"Open it," Allie laughed. Olive did so, and her eyes lit up satisfactorily.

"It's a scrapbook!" she gushed. "Where did you guys get all these pictures of me when I was younger?"

"We asked Mum to send them," Poppy explained. They kept Olive chuckling affectionately at a variety of past pictures of her and her family, (for example a picture of her and playing with a large tub of chocolate ice-cream and another one that started off as they're parents taking a nice photo, and then Olive sneaking up on her father and biting him on the shoulder) and recent pictures she'd taken with Allie and Mat.

Ten minutes later, they all heard the familiarly loud _swoosh! _of the daily post. A huge barn owl swooped down on Olive, carrying a letter and one big parcel and another rather small one.

"Ooh!" she squealed. "Mum and Dad's presents!" She read the letter rapidly, smiled and tossed it aside as she grabbed the nearest parcel.

As she ripped of the paper, she exposed a big, aquamarine-blue box that was filled with bath salts, bubble bath, various scented candles such as vanilla, jasmine, echinacea and many more and lots of face masks.

"Wow!" she said, as she opened the pack of candles. "Well done, Mum!"

"Mum didn't get me a present this good for my birthday!" Heidi moaned, looking at the chocolate face mask.

"That's because up until two years ago you were satisfied with just dolls," Poppy pointed out. "Wow, the lavender smells really nice!"

"Hey!" Allie said, laughing. "That's so funny! Your mum bought you that and her name is Lavender! Ha, that's so funny!" Everybody looked at her questioningly.

"Yeah," Poppy replied. "I'm sure _that's _why Mum gave her that."

"OK, Olive!" Mat said, excitedly. "Open the other parcel!" She reached for the other one and pulled out the contents.

"Wow," she said. "Perfume! Hey, it's from Dad!"

"That's a Muggle one!" Gemma said in surprise, reaching for the heart-shaped perfume. "Vera Wang princess!"

"Let's smell then!" Olive said, taking it back. She squirted some on her wrist and then held it up to her nose.

"Wow!" she said. "It's really nice! Well, this is nice! My parents are basically saying, "Happy birthday, darling! You smell!"

As everyone laughed, a tawny came flying towards Olive, a sleek, square box with colourful wrapping paper wrapped around it tied to it's leg.

"Wow," Olive said for what felt like the thirtieth time. "Another one?"

"Who's it from?" Mat asked.

"Let me open it first, Mat!" She did so, tearing off the wrapping paper in her haste.

"No, don't!" Gemma said, suddenly. "Don't tear it! Save the wrapping paper for the next time you want to wrap a present!"

"You freak, Gem!" Olive laughed. As the last of the wrapping paper came off, Olive held a navy, suede..case, she supposed.

"What's in it?" Violet asked.

"OK, can people wait till I've actually opened it to ask questions?" Olive asked.

With bating breath, she opened the case and it revealed a gorgeous, diamond necklace with a hooped, cable link chain and a small, diamond-encrusted heart as a pendant.

"Wow," she whispered again.

"Oh my God, I can't not look at it!" Heidi exclaimed, staring at the necklace with lust.

"I think I'm in love," Allie whispered. Olive took it out of the box and dangled it elegantly from her hand.

"Can I-" Mat asked, gently. Olive simply nodded. Mat gently took the necklace from her and appeared to examine it.

"Oh my," she whispered, as she stared. "Olive, the chain is white gold! And the heart must have at least twenty diamonds in it! This must have cost a fortune! Who gave it to you?"

Olive shrugged and took the necklace back. She was very confused. Surely, if it was from her parents, or any other relative, they would have sent a letter.

"Oh look!" Violet exclaimed, pointing at the case. "There's a card!"

Olive reached for it and it said:

**_To Olive,_**

**_I am so sorry. Happy Birthday. _**

**_Love Max._**

"Who's it from?" Mat asked, excitedly. Olive simply showed her the card in response.

"Oh," Mat replied.

"Who is it?" about three of them asked together. Olive assumed that she must have told them, but she wasn't really listening. The first thought that came to her head when she saw the card was, **_"Ah! That is so insulting! He can't try to be buy me off with a necklace!"_**, but she couldn't even be bothered anymore. She might as well accept it. She loved the necklace. But for some reason, she didn't want to wear it. Not in front of everyone anyway. Because then, it would kind of show everyone that she had given up. Yet another girl had give in to Max Bailey.

"Well," Violet sighed. "There really is no other word for it. Wow!"

Inwardly, Olive agreed heartily.


	29. Christmas

Two weeks later, Olive Finnigan sat in her living room, right next to the frosty window and drinking hot chocolate with her mother. It was the perfect Christmas picture. The great, hot, steaming mugs, the two people sitting curled up opposite the fire, blankets over they're feet and the picture of snow falling thickly and beautifully out the window to the left of them.

Olive finished her mug of hot chocolate and sighed deeply.

"OK," her mother said, in a concerned voice. "That is not a good sigh."

"Nothing," Olive lied.

"Olive," her mum said, taking her empty mug and gesturing to her daughter to follow her into the kitchen. "I am your mother. I know when I'm being lied to. Now tell me what's wrong."

Olive sighed again, collapsed on the dining room table and buried her face in her arms.

"Mum, have you ever had boy trouble?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled.

"Sweetheart, I didn't understand a word of what you just said."

"I said," Olive said, lifting her head off the table. "Did you ever have any boy trouble?"

"Aah," Lavender replied, handing her a fresh mug of hot chocolate and sitting down opposite her with her own mug. "Is this the same boy that gave you the necklace you're wearing?"

Olive held a protective hand towards her necklace.

"I do know everything that I have and haven't given you, dear," she said, matter-of-factly. "It's a nice necklace anyway. Whoever this boy is, he's got good taste. So, what happened?"

And reluctantly, after a deep breath, Olive told her mother the whole story.

"Hmm," Lavender said thoughtfully, sipping her mug of hot cider. "That is quite a pickle. Do you want me to tell you a story about a boy problem I had?"

"Is it about Dad?"

"Yes."

"Then no."

"Fine! I'll tell you one that's not about your father."

"Who's it about?"

"Well, would you feel better if it were about Ron?"

Olive paused thoughtfully. "No."

"Well, I don't have much else to tell you then!"

"Fine! You can tell me the one about Mr Weasley."

"OK. Well, I went out with Ron in our sixth year-"

"So, I've heard..." Olive muttered, looking uncomfortable but interested.

"Let me finish!" her mother said sternly. "OK. Well your father and I-"

"You said this wasn't about Dad!" Olive exclaimed, indignantly.

"Well, it is about Ron, but your father sort of comes into the loop a little," she confessed.

"Go on," Olive muttered, relucantly.

"Well," Lavender said, again. "Your father and I didn't start going out until the Yule Ball on Christmas Eve in our fourth year. Then, we broke up again in the middle of our fifth year. It was..really very silly. You see, I liked Harry at the time, and that year, your father and he had been through a little bit of a..well, they weren't as close as they usually were. At the end of the year, right before the summer, he wanted to make it up, but I was far too stubborn. Then, in our sixth year, I went out with Ron. Yes, _Ron_," she said, after her daughter gave her a surprised look.

"But I was very stupid and thoughtless doing this," Lavender went on. "Because it ended up hurting both your dad and Hermione as well, because I went out with Ron even though I knew she liked him."

"Why did you do that?" Olive asked. She felt a little angry. She knew how horrible this felt and her own mother had done the same thing.

"I suppose I thought that if I went out with Ron, then Seamus would be jealous and maybe want to go out with me again. AndI never asked him, but I suspect Ron was doing the same thing for Hermione. It was a far more complex situation with them though. Because Seamus was an ex-boyfriend, but Hermione and Ron were best friends. They didn't speak for the majorty of that year. And honestly, I still feel terrible about it."

"So, what happened?"

"Well, Ron and I broke up. Then, at the end of the year, your dad and I got back together."

"And you've been together since."

"Pretty much."

"So, what does that have to do with me and Max?"

"Olive, haven't you realized?"

"What?"

"You're me, twenty-one years ago!"

"What? _I _didn't go out with anyone to make anybody jealous!"

"But you're stubborn just like me! I wouldn't take Seamus back and deliberately went after someone who obviously had feelings for someone else, just to make him feel bad. Now granted, a went a little further than you, but don't you see? It's still the same. You're stubborn!"

"I am not!" Olive argued. "I just don't want to give him the benefit of the doubt! I just-"

"Don't want to get hurt again," Lavender finished. "Life is all about taking risks, darling. If you don't try, how will you ever know? You'll regret it and always wonder what would've happened if you don't."

Olive sighed deeply and nodded. "I guess you're right, Mum."

"So, I think you know what you have to do, don't you?"

"Yep," Olive replied, sighing again and getting up. "I've got to get to Hogwarts."

* * *

"Mum," James said, walking into his own kitchen and finding his mother, sitting down and drinking eggnog.

"Yes dear," she said.

"What do you buy a girl for Christmas?"

"Why?" she asked.

"Oh, because Poppy didn't really appreciate the present I got her last year, so now I have to get her something really good for this year."

"Wow," Ginny said, putting down her glass. "Girls only fail to smile and pretend to like they're presents when they're really bad, so what on earth did you give her?"

"Socks," James said, sheepishly.

"Socks?" Ginny repeated, disbelievingly. "Socks? You bought her a pair of socks for Christmas?"

"I didn't buy them," he confessed. "They were Dad's. You know, the ones with the Snitches on them?"

"James! No wonder she complained! Of course you have to get her a better present this year! It has to be really good!"

"So, what should I get her?"

"You know what? I need to go to the shops to buy food for Christmas dinner and a present for Hermione as well. Why don't you come with me? I'm sure we can pick something out."

"OK. Thanks Mum! Oh, and you won't tell Dad about his socks, will you?"

"My lips are sealed. Besides, he'll probably just go out and buy another pair and I can't stand having another pair in the house!"

Just then, Harry walked in.

"What are you all talking about?" he asked, taking Ginny's eggnog and sipping it.

"Nothing," she replied casually.

"Dad, when are Rose and Hugo coming?" James asked, changing the subject swiftly.

"Two days," Harry replied, sitting down opposite them. "Ron and Hermione are coming as well."

"Wow," Albus said, as he walked through the door. "We're going to have a pretty full house then."

"Well, Christmas is all about family," Harry answered, looking around at Ginny reading the _Daily Prophet_, Lily rushing in and blowing a rasberry at James, and Albus stealing the Snitch out of James' back pocket while he turned around angrily to face Lily. Harry smiled, knowing that he could not asked for a better family.


	30. Rain

The next evening found Olive Finnigan rushing up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower with her trunk and handbag, three weeks earlier than she thought she would've. She dragged her trunk step by step, cursing herself for wearing new boots back to Hogwarts two years in a row. She just couldn't resist the black, sleek supple leather instruments as they called out to her from within the wrapping paper of the gift that her mother had given her.

As she was panting and fearing breaking a sweat, Allie came up the stairs and froze when she saw her.

"Hi!" Olive breathed. "Well, surprise!"

"Hi!" Allie replied, snapping out of it. "What are you doing here?"

"Errm..well, I'm here to talk to Max."

"Couldn't you just do that after the holidays?"

"Not really. I spoke to my mum about it and..well, finally gained some sanity."

"Yay!" Allie cried, giving her friend a hug. "So, what are you going to say to Max?"

"Ermm, I dunno."

She suddenly realized that she really didn't know, and Olive started to panic.

"Oh my God, Allie! What am I going to say?!"

"It'll be fine," she replied, soothingly. "It's going to be OK. Just..say what you feel. And don't rehearse it, because you're more likely to mess it up if you do. Ooh, I like your boots."

"Thanks. My mum gave them to me for Christmas. Now, do you think you could help me because this trunk is killing me."

Allie was happy to oblige, and the two girls got the trunk outside the Fat Lady's portrait within five minutes. As Olive opened her mouth to say that she did not know the new password, when Allie interrupted.

"Tinseltown," she said, promptly.

"Tinseltown?" Olive repeated questioningly, walking into the common room as the Fat Lady swung open.

"Yeah, she found a possible holiday destination and a Christmas-related word all in one. She was delighted."

Laughing, they pulled the trunk up to their dormitory and collapsed on Olive's bed.

"Isn't it weird that it was snowing yesterday, and now it's absolutely puring down rain?" Allie said, conversationally. All of a sudden, she seemed to have regained her breath, and jumped up to face Olive.

"So, what are you going to say to Max?"

"I thought you said that I shouldn't plan it."

"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot. OK, here's my advice: Try not to make it too awkward, keep it simple because guys have the brain of a fish, and don't be too forgiving and melt-into-his arms-y, because then he'll think that he can be the one who's in charge."

"Wow, OK. That's a lot to remember."

"OK, you'll be fine. Good luck!"

"What? I have to go now?"

"Well, there's no time like the present!"

Olive took a deep breath and walked downstairs into the Gryffindor common room. She saw Fred as she walked into the middle of the room.

"Hi, Fred!" she exclaimed, glad to see a friendly face.

"Hey, Olive!" he replied. "What are you doing here? I thought you went home for Christmas."

"It's a long story. Do you think you could go and get Max? He is here, isn't he?"

"Uh, yeah he is. He's over there." Fred pointed somewhere in the middle of the room and she clapped eyes on Max who was talking to some blonde-haired girl, who was called Nicola something. They were talking and laughing, and she was sitting on his lap. Olive's heart plummmeted to what felt like abut fifty feet. Max looked over at Olive, as she was standing right opposite him, and his face was etched with utter shock. He just sat there with a girl on his lap, his mouth open, not moving or saying one word.

She decided to take the first move and she gave him a hurt and disbelieving look, and rushed out of the common room. She didn't know whether he had come after her, and she didn't care. She wasn't altogether sure if she wanted him to or not. She just kept running. Running down the stairs, away from Gryffindor Tower, past the Great Hall. Then finally, she rushed outside, immediately realizing that she had forgotten what Allie had said about the rain. But she found that she didn't care. Automatically, instead of turning around to go back inside, her feet just kept running and running further on into the dark and rain. She couldn't see much, but there were few lights from the huge windows of the buildings, so she could faintly make her way around.

Olive only stopped when she got to the edge of the Lake. Then, she sat down, perfectly aware of the fact that her jeans would be wet and muddy. She sat there, thinking for a while, watching the rain lash against the Lake, feeling the icy cold wind and rain cut into her face. She'd always loved the rain. It made you realize a lot more than you did in the calm and sunny weather. She wasn't sure of how long she had been sitting there for, but she didn't care. She just felt..hurt all over again. This is what she had been afraid of. That this would happen again. And it had. She felt like such an idiot. She had left her home and her family at Christmas..for this.

She suddenly felt her eyes go hot and blurry and a huge lump in her throat. It was a couple of minutes before Olive had realized she was _crying_. She hadn't cried in nearly two years. Not once. She immediately raised a hand to wipe the tears away, but gave up. What was the point? No one was here anyway. So, she sat there and let the salty tears mix with the refreshing rain, and feeling nothing but regret and misery. Then, she realized that she really must have been there for a long time because some of the lights in the windows were going out, and it was gradually becoming darker. She pulled her wand out of her stiff, wet jeans pocket and muttered_, _"_Lumos_."

It ignited obediantly, and she leant forwards and sobbed on. After a couple of minutes, and heard some quick, thumping footsteps. She wheeled around in her damp seating arangement, making her jeans muddier and wetter still. She didn't know what kind of emotion she felt when she saw Max Bailey standing over her.

"Not thinking of drowning yourself, are you?" he said, in a tone that was half joke-y and conversational and half desperate. She stood up vigorously, sneered and walked away and further away from him as a reply.

"Olive," he said, in a tone that was fully desperate now, and walking after her. "I'm sorry. I don't know what you think you saw in there but, I promise you-"

"Max, you don't have to beg me," she said, turning around, determined not to face him. "Again," she added, spitefully.

"Olive-"

"You should get back to your new girlfriend."

"Olive, Nicola is not my girlfriend! We're just friends!"

"Didn't look like you were just friends," Olive said, stubbornly.

"Well, we are! I'm sorry, Olive, I'm not trying to be mean, but I don't really understand why I'm here in the pouring rain explaining myself to you. I've treid with you so many times, and of course I've made mistakes, who doesn't? But you've made it pretty clear that you didn't want anything to do with me."

Olive didn't say anything in reply to this, so Max went on.

"Look Olive, I still really like you. And I know you like me. I know that you think that I just think of you as just another girl, but if you were, do you think I'd have put in half the effort that I'm putting in now? Can I just ask, why can't you just forgive me?"

"Because!" Olive suddenly screamed as she wheeled around, so loud that Max stepped a few feet backwards. "If I forgive you, then that means that I have to do all this stuff that I'm not good at! I'd have to admit that I still like you, which means admitting that I'm wrong, I'd have to forgive you for everything you've done, and I can't do that that easily, and it means that I'd have to go out with you, which means letting you in! Showing my emotions! I don't do that! I know that's supposed to be the things that girls are good at, but I'm not! I'd much sooner go around and pretend that everything is OK, than having to admit to my feelings! It's just easier that way, you don't get hurt! And I'm just _so tired _of getting hurt, Max!"

"Then, what if I said that you wouldn't get hurt anymore?"

"You can't promise me that!"

"Yes, I can. Because it'll never happen again. Not from me, anyway."

"But, I can't.."

"Why? Give me ne good reason why you can't?"

Reviewing everything they'd just been through, Olive searched rapidly to find a good enough reason.

"Because my sister would be angry," she said, feebly.

Max laughed. "That's the worst excuse I've ever heard!"

In spite of herself, Olive laughed meekly. "Yeah, I know. But I don't know, Max, I want to but-"

"Then do it."

"But, I don't-"

"Do it."

"But-"

"I won't mess up anymore. I promise you that."

As he looked directly into her blue eyes, that were still so bright in the dark and rain, she knew he was telling the truth. But she still had to argue.

"Max,"

"Olive.."

"I don't think I can.."

"Olive, you have to stop doubting yourself. Even if you don't think I'm a saint, take a risk! You're good at that."

She laughed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Is there anything in your heart that's telling you not to do it?"

Olive had her negative answer all ready and was just about to say it, when she realized it was false. All her instincts and every strand clinging onto her heart was telling her to go for it. She heard her mother's voice in her head.

**_You've got to stop being so stubborn, darling. _**

"No," she replied, truthfully.

Max moved forward towards her cautiously and snaked his arms around her waist.

"So.." he said.

"So, I guess I'm finally giving in."

"You're saying yes?"

"Yes, I'm saying yes."

With a smile, Max leaned into kiss her and then-

"By the way, it may have been a pathetic excuse, but it's true. My sister really will kill you!"

They both laughed, and with no hesitation, Max leaned in again and kissed Olive, something he'd been wanting to do for a year and a half now. Although, Olive had gived in to something for what she thought was the first time, she had not been this happy in a long time. They went on kissing as the wind progressed and the rainfall carried on. Olive smiled and danced on the inside of herself.

**_I love the rain even more now_**, she thought to herself.


	31. A Sunday Afternoon

A month later on a Sunday afternoon, Olive and Max were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, holding hands and talking with Gemma, Albus, James, Poppy, Allie, Violet, Polly, Fred, Ryan and Daphne. Needless to say, they couldn't be happier, and what's more, Olive no longer felt uncomfortable when with Allie and James, as she had a boyfriend of her own now.

They were all laughing at a story James, just told and Olive smiled and fiddled with her necklace.

"You know, I never thanked you for this," she whispered in his ear.

"You like it?" he whispered back.

"I love it. Thank you. But, you know, you don't have to get me expensive presents all the time!"

"I know! I want to! You deserve it!"

As he said this, an owl came soaring through the window and straight towards Olive. She opened it and the barn owl took off again.

_Olive,_

_Hi! I'm back! I've heard some things about you and I want to talk to you and make sure it's not just gossip and rumours, OK? Meet me in the Room of Requirement now. I have stuff to tell you as well!_

_Love,  
Mat.  
xxx_

Olive jumped up happily and excitedly.

"Mat's back!" she said, excitedly. "Sorry guys, I'll have to go and talk to her! I'll be back in like, ten minutes!"

Leaving them all somewhat blind-sighted, she rushed out of the room. When she got to the Room of Requirement, she walked along the corridor three times, thinking like mad for a room to talk to her best friend, where no one else could see and hear them. About a minute later, the great, dark door had materialized in front of her.

She pressed on the thick, brass handle and rushed into the room. It was big and spacious, with a large cream sofa-bed, a crackling fire right beside it, a table with three big bowls, one bowl of Chocokate Frogs, one of Bertie-Bott's Every-Flavour Beans and one of marshmallows, and a bottle of Butterbeer beside them. Mat was lying on the sofa bed wearing a pair of jeans and a navy, zip hoodie over a plain grey string top, appearing to be dozing gently, a pair of leopard-print sunglasses perched on her head.

"OK," Olive said loudly and clearly, beside her now. "I don't know if you've realized the climate change, but you don't need sunglasses in England in the middle of January.

Mat's eyes shot wide open and she smiled widely. "Hi!" she exclaimed, sitting up on the sofa to hug her friend.

"Hi!" Olive answered, enthusiastically, sitting down on the sofa bed beside her as they separated. "How was Spain?"

"Oh, it was really good, _so _much fun! Lying on the beach all day, sunbathing, swimming-"

"OK, don't rub it in! I was already jealous! What's with all the sweets?"

"Oh, we didn't have time for breakfast before we left this morning, and the plane food was _disgusting_ and I didn't touch any of it."

"Plane?" Olive asked, surprised. "You went on a Muggle aeroplane?"

"Yep. Mum thought it would be fun for us all to go on a strictly Muggle-route. Even though we could have gotten to our villa in literally less than five seconds, but oh no! Let's choose the less convenient way!"

"You got a really nice tan, Mat!" Olive commented.

"Thanks, so did Freya actually. She basically never left the beach or the deckchairs, she wouldn't come into the sea or our pool, the big baby! Anyway, why are we discussing these silly, unimportant details? SO..you and Max?? Finally!"

"Yeah, like you were telling me to!"

"Oh my God! Tell me exactly what happened!"

Olive took a deep breath and told the whole story to Mat.

"Wow," she gushed, after the five-minute tale. "I've _always _wanted a guy to kiss me in the rain!"

"I know! Me too!"

"So," Mat said, collapsing into the sofa bed and reaching for a Chocolate Frog. "Are you happy?"

"I really am," she replied. "It's about time! I must listen to my mother more!"

Mat cleared her throat pointedly. "You must listen to _me _more, my dim-witted olive. _I _am your loyal and wise best friend who pointed you in the right direction in the first place!"

"OK," Olive laughed. "OK, fair enough, I must listen to you more as well. Can I have a marshmallow?"

"Go for it."

"So," Olive sighed, grabbing the bowl and tossing a marshmallow in her mouth. "You said you had some stuff to tell me too."

"Oh yeah," Mat sighed, taking the bowl of Bertie-Bott's Every-Flavour Beans and inspecting a dodgy looking green one. "It's not actually that big of a deal. It's just-well, I was so happy about it earlier!"

"What?"

"Jack asked me to go to visit him in Italy for a week during the summer."

"Oh my God! That's so great!"

"I know."

"Wait, have you not seen Jack since you came back?"

"Not yet," Mat said, grimacing as she chewed on an Every-Flavour Bean. "I think that's sprout!"

"Why haven't you seen him yet?"

"Cos I wanted to talk to you first!"

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Olive said, getting up. "But I have to get back to my boyfriend, I _love _saying that! And, while I'm going, I'll go get yours!"

"OK thanks Olive," Mat sighed, grinning with satisfaction at a caramel flavoured bean. "Hey! Don't take the marshamallows!"

"Bye, Mat! See you in class tomorrow!" Olive yelled, already halfway out the door.


	32. Trouble in Potions

Hogwarts was suddenly filled with happy couples. Everywhere you turned there were a grinning twosome, holding hands. Allie and James, Rose and Scorpius (although that happened very discreetly), Olive and Max, Mat and Jack, and Heidi and Nathan.

"What a boring lot we all are?" Mat said, as she walked down the corridor on Monday morning, hand in hand with Jack.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well," Mat elaborated. "Nearly everyone's a couple now. We all just go around doing couple stuff."

"Define couple stuff."

"You know. Sitting around in the common room talking, walking around and holding hands, taking secret midnight trysts up to the Room of Requirement, or maybe that's just us and Olive and Max."

"Yeah," Jack replied, reminiscently. "I just wish we didn't have to walk in on them."

"Yeah, me too."

"But anyway, what's wrong with doing 'couple stuff'?"

"Nothing's wrong with it. It just seems to be what everybody does these days."

"That's not true!" Jack insisted.

"Yes it is, Jack! When was the last time you saw two people walking down the corridor, without holding hands?"

"Mat, you're being ridiculous! Apart from us, hardly anyone walks down the corridor holding hands!"

Just then, as if on cue, Heidi and Nathan and Allie and James walked down the corridor...holding hands. Mat looked at Jack pointedly.

"I believe the phrase you're looking for is, 'I stand corrected'," she prompted, her eyebrows raised.

The bell rang just as they walked into the dungeon for Potions. Mat abandoned Jack regrettably at a cauldron beside Ryan and took up her usual place inbetween Olive and Rose.

"OK," Professer Stuart sighed, addressing the class and pulling out his wand. "Today we will be making the Shrinking Solution. Please start."

With two flicks of his wand, the instructions appeared on the blackboard and the store-room door swung wide open.

Olive and Mat rolled they're eyes. Professor Stuart always set them dull potions, with very boring effects. It was fun at first to make a Swelling Solution and watch your classmates faces bulge by the second, but after a year and a half, the novelty had worn off.

The girls took the ingredients they needed and trooped back to the table they shared.

"Well," Mat said, slicing her caterpillars. "Riveting, this, isn't it?"

"I know," Olive agreed, cutting up her daisy roots haphazardly. "It's _so _boring. Why doesn't he set us any interesting potions? This lot is dull enough to put you to sleep."

"Is that so, Miss Finnigan?"

Olive's eyes widened as she heard Professor Stuart's sly voice coming from behind her.

"Oh Professor," she stammered. "I'm sorry, I was just-"

"You were just insulting my teaching methods," he interrupted, loudly enough for nearly the whole class to stop skinning they're Shrivelfigs and peer around curiously.

"Errm, Professor, I'm sorry.."

"This insult is probably something I would understand if it weren't for the fact that you can't even cut up even daisy roots for a potion that is so apparantly simple and tedious."

"I-"

"Well then Olive, if my methods are so boring, we shall alternate them. Tomorrow, we shall work on a potion that should be much more interesting and certainly _much _more complicated. Does that satisfy you?"

Olive really didn't know how to answer him. Thankfully, Professor Stuart didn't even give her a chance to. He just gave her another hateful sneer and sauntered past.

Rose winced at her sympathetically and Mat gave her a sarcastic thumbs-up. Olive herself slung her head into her hands.

"So," Mat said conversationally, as the class slowly started bustling and chatting again. "What kind of exciting potion did you have in mind?"

"Poison," Olive replied, through her hands.

A long hour later, the bell rang and Olive hastily made her potion disappear and rushed out of the class, Rose, Mat and Jack on her tail.

"It's alright Olive," Jack said, reassuringly.

"How?" Olive asked.

"He could have...shot you," he tried, feebly. Olive shook her head and kept walking.

"Good one," Mat said to Jack, sarcastically.

"Guess who?" Max had suddenly slipped behind Olive and put both hands over her eyes.

"If it's death, you are most welcome," Olive sighed.

"Ouch," Max replied, removing his hand and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Not a good lesson, I take it?"

"Olive got on the wrong side of Professor Stuart again," Rose explained.

"And he hates me enough already!" moaned Olive.

They all walked for five minutes, until Max had to separate from them and go to Defence Against The Dark Arts and the second years went to Transfiguration.

Professor Gaultier seemed in a good enough mood, but then again, it did help that they were friends with her nephew. Deciding that she couldn't take anymore Fire-Breathing teachers, she grabbed an unsuspecting Louis, who had just come through the door, and put him beside her.

"Errm, hi," Louis said, uncertainly. "Should I be scared?"

"Sorry," Olive apologized, as Hazel sidled towards her and sat at her other side. "I just need you for moral support, and since you happen to be our teacher's nephew, you would come in handy."

"O..K..," Louis saud, deciding not to ask questions.

Just then, a magnificent peacock (or peahen to be correct) flew into the room and perched onto the desk. After a few seconds, she flew forwards and before she could soar around the room, she transformed into the long, thin, dark-haired beauty that was Professor Gabrielle Gaultier.

"Trust the French to make an entrance," Louis muttered. Olive laughed.

"_Bonjour ma classe_," she said, as applaue rippled around the class. "Ah! You like my _paon_?"

Olive looked at Louis in confusion.

"It's French for peacock," he said.

"Now class," Professor Gaultier started in her thick, French accent. "Today, we will probably be very eventful. Olive, can you come up here please?"

Olive's stomach clenched. She hadn't even done anything yet!

"Don't look so worried, _mon amour_! You are not in trouble!"

"For once," Olive muttered, walking up to the box.

She walked over to Professor Gaultier's desk and she handed her a fairly small, ordinary moving box. Well, ordinary apart from the fact that it was moving. Or rather, something inside it was moving. Olive felt nervous and uncertain, and obviously looked it too.

"It's OK!" Professor Gaultier encouraged her. "It's OK! Just open it!"

So, cautiously, Olive set the box on the table opened the top and her face exploded with delight at the contents. The whole class saw her delve into the box and bring out an adorable, small, white rabbit with sparkly, green eyes.

All the girls in the class "Aw!"ed appreciatively.

"Today class," Gaultier explained, bringing out a large crate from under her desk. "We will be Transfiguring these rabbits and turning them into fluffy bedroom slippers. It will be quite difficult as we will be turning one thing into two single things, but I think you will all be well up to the job. So let's give it a try!"

The class all had fun with they're rabbits. Olive was the only one that had gotten a white rabbit. There were black ones, brown ones, several.

"They're so cute!" Mat exclaimed, cuddling her grey rabbit with a black patch over it's right eye.

For the next hour, people tried and tried to turn them into bedroom slippers but, as Gaultier had said, it was very difficult. Some people had succeeded with only one bedroom slipper, some one and a half, some people got two, but they're eyes still lit up and blinked, and some cowered away in fright whenever they tried to put them on they're feet. By the end of the class, the only person that had succeeded in making satisfacory bedroom slippers was Rose. Surprise surprise. Olive had made absolutely no progress with her rabbit. She suspected that it was because she was so unwilling to make any changes to her bunny, as she usually got a little further than this in Transfiguration.

"OK class, well done. Put what remains of your _lapin _in the crate. See you tomorrow! Oh, Olive! Can you stay behind _pour un moment_?"

Olive shrugged at Mat and gestured that she should go on ahead without her.

"So," Jack said, putting his arm around Mat and Louis, Hazel and Rose tactfully slipped off. "What was all that you were saying about couple stuff?"

"Not much, it's just we all do the same things now. We don't really do anything exciting or fun."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Use your imagination."

"Well, we can't go into Hogsmeade. We're not old enough. So, what did you have in mind?"

"I don't even know. You know what, just ignore me. I don't know what I'm talking about!"

Olive suddenly came speeding down the corridor towards them, with her bunny.

"Hi Olive," Mat said. "You know, you're not supposed to take them with you!"

"Professor Gaultier let me keep it!" Olive cried, excitedly.

"What?" Mat asked, shocked. "Why?"

"She said that the bunny got into mischief and mayhem, just like me apparantly! So she thought I should keep her! I'm going to call her Flopsy!"

"Flopsy?" Jack asked. "How predictable!"

"Well, what else do you suggest?" Olive asked. "Fluffy?"

"Good point," Jack agreed.

"Anyway," Mat continued. "Speaking of mischief and mayhem, we have double Potions tomorrow! Good luck!"

"I know! But it's alright. It's tomorrow. I have plenty of time to wallow in dread and nerves."

* * *

The thing about time is that, as soon as you are horribly dreading something in particular, it has the rather irritating habit of speeding up.

In what felt like no time at all, Olive was sitting in Potions, shaking with nerves.

"All right, Finnigan?" Ryan asked, sitting beside her and making her jump.

"I'm alright. Scared, but all right."

"I'm here to give you moral support," Ryan explained. "Don't worry. Stuart loves me."

Professor Stuart himself walked into the dank, cold dungeon.

"Right well bye," Ryan said, taking his bag and getting off the chair.

"What?" Olive spluttered. "W-wh-where are you going? You said you were going to give me moral support!"

"I know, I was. But I forgot how much he scares me! Sorry, Olive! Good luck!"

And with that, Ryan scarpered away from her. Luckily, Rose and Mat came and sat either side of her, as usual.

"Oh, thank goodness you guys are here!" she breathed.

"OK class," Professor Stuart said. "Settle down now. Well, as you all probably remember, Miss Finnigan very rudely pointed out that I haven't been assigning you potions that are particularly _exciting_. Well, today that is about to change. Today, I have decided to assign you the exciting and extremely difficult potion that is known as the Draughtof Peace."

The class murmured appreciatively. Mat looked considerably interested and Rose gasped. She looked shocked.

"What?" Olive asked her, alarmed.

"That's OWL level!" she hissed back to her and Mat.

Olive swallowed the large lump in her throat.

"This potion, of course," Professor Stuart went on. "a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Beware, while it sounds like a simple potion, with lack of attention you will put the consumer into a heavyand sometimes permanant sleep. You will find the ingredients and method on the blackboard and the ingredients in the store cupboard."

Neat writing appeared on the board and the store cupboard door swung open with two waves of Stuart's wand.

"Start now. Please work on your own."

Olive took a deep breath, read through the instructions on the blackboard three times and took everything she needed from the store cupboard.

Once she got back to her desk, she looked at Rose and Mat on either side of her. Rose gave her a thumbs-up and a sympathetic smile. Mat gave her a wink and they both turned their eyes back to the blackboard. This was a very difficult, very fiddly potion. All the ingredients had to be put in the precise right order and quantity, the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times and the heat of the fire had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a specific number of minutes before the final ingredient was added. It was very complicated and very delicate.

Olive was concentrating more than she had ever done in any lesson. She added the powdered moonstone, stirred three times counter-clockwise and while waiting for her potion to simmer for seven minutes, she looked around the room to check everybody else's progress.

Ryan was peering into his cauldron, his potion looking as if it had achieved the consistency of mixed cement. Mat's potion was emitting sort-of bright pink smoke which spread all around the room, engulfing students as they worked. Rose too looked a little confused, which was new for her. Her potion appeared to be stewing correctly but not giving off the shimmering mist of silver vapour, like Professor Stuart had described it to. However, after Olive waited for seven minutes and added two drops of syrup of hellabore like she was meant to, a light, silver vapour immediately started rising from her potion. She smiled slightly, but then thought that just because it looked correct, it might not be so.

"Time's up!" Professor Stuart suddenly called, making several students jump. He got up, gave a few sweeping glances to the first couple of potions, then a sudden idea seemed to strike him.

"Why don't we experiment our advisor's potion, Miss Finnigan?"

He strode over to her and inspected her cauldron. Evidently, he could find nothing wrong with it by sight. Then, he grinned widely. Olive didn't like that smile.

"I have just recieved intelligence that you have recieved a brand new rabbit, is that right?" he asked, with a sneer.

**_Oh no, _**Olive thought to herself. Mat and Rose exchanged looks of horror.

Professor Stuart pulled out his wand, tapped it on Olive's desk and Flopsy appeared there in a flash, green eyes blinking in astonishment. Olive looked at Professor Stuart with a pleading expression, but either he ignored it or her was immune to recognizing any kind of emotion. The second theory was a lot more likely, she thought.

He brought out what looked like a little, golden test tube and filled it halfway with Olive's potion. He gave Olive one last sneer and poured the contents into Flopsy's tiny mouth.

The whole class waited with bated breath for what felt to Olive like the longest two minutes of her life. But finally, they realized thatit looked like the only effects the potion had on Flopsy was to make her foot stop twitching agitatedly, making her look calm and content. Before the class could erupt with cheers, the bell rang. Olive packed up her books and took Flopsy in her hands, leaving a stunned and annoyed looking Professor Stuart and joining her friends out in the hall. She smiled to heself. Perhaps Potions wasn't so bad, after all.


	33. The Headmasters' Reunion

Olive was walking down the corridor on the fourth floor on a Wednesday afternoon with her friend, Holly Wells in their year. They were walking back from Herbology, the last lesson of the day. Deep in conversation, they didn't really notice where they were walking. So, Olive was very shocked and very annoyed when she walked straight into what appeared to be a trick floorboard. Her left foot had fallen straight through the floorboard, which was surprisingly deep, and, feeling annoyed enough as it was, what felt like an ocean of some sort of liquid came gushing all over her. It couldn't be water, for one thing it was brown and far to smelly to be...it was _vinegar_!

"PEEVES!" Olive screeched, her voice dripping with fury. Holly cautiously offered her hand to help her out of the hole.

"Honestly!" Olive went on. "That bloody poltergeist! I'm going to _kill _him!"

She charged forward a few steps, but Holly held her round the middle, stopping her from marching any further.

"First of all," Holly began, in a pacifying voice. "I'm not too sure if it works the same way as it does with normal ghosts, but I'm pretty sure that poltergeists are already dead. Second of all, you won't gain anything from a miserable attempt to strangle Peeves. It'll just give him another reason to do something else to you. Something else worse, but maybe not as foul smelling! I'm sorry!"

She added the last sentence when Olive gave her a particularly filthy look that very clearly stated, _"I am not amused."_

She stomped grumpily to Gryffindor Tower, Holly following her almost reluctantly.

"What on earth happened to you?" the Fat Lady asked, in surprise.

"Fortis vescus," Olive muttered, moodily.

The Fat Lady swung forwards and Olive left brown, sludgy footprints as she entered.

"Hey Olive!" Heidi said, leaving Nathan by the fire and rushing over to her older sister. "I need to ask you-whoa!"

Heidi took a few steps toward Olive and reeled backwards, holding her nose. "What did you roll in?"

"Anyway," Olive said, trying to get her off the subject. "What did you need to ask me?"

"Oh yeah, I was just...you know what? This is going to have to wait till after you take a bath." And with that, she rushed back over to Nathan. Olive turned back around to face Holly.

"I hate Peeves," she muttered, through gritted teeth.

"Yeah I know," Holly replied, sympathetically. She sniffed vigorously. "But, your sister's right, babe. You'd better take a bath. Tell you what. Use the Prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor. You know, the on the left of the statue of Boris the Bewildered. The password's _squeaky clean_."

"Thanks Holly," Olive said, sarcastically. "You're a real friend."

* * *

The next day didn't prove much more promising for Olive. Nothing much had happened, but she was still in a bad mood from yesterday evening. She was walking along the corridor towards Defence Against the Dark Arts with Allison, Mat and Alice.

"So, tell me again why Jack didn't meet me after breakfast?" Mat asked Alice for the third time.

Alice sighed. "My brother has found himself otherwise engaged in other matters and has sent me to fill in for him," she said, wearily.

"As my boyfriend?" Mat asked.

"Well, basically, but please don't phrase it like that."

Olive and Allison trudged along beside them, listening in to incredibly this bizarre and twisted conversation. Allie looked at her with a confused expression.

"I'm not even going to comment," Olive assured her.

Suddenly, Max and James came walking towards them from the other end of the corridor, chuckling about something or other, and as soon as they laid eyes on the girls they grinned and quickened they're steps.

"Good morning!" Max said cheerily, giving Olive a kiss at the same time as James put his arm around Allie.

"Yeah?" Olive replied, irritably. "Prove it!"

Max looked around for inspiration.

"Ignore her," Allie reassured him. "She's just in a bad mood because she still angry about people spending last night telling her to take a bath."

"What are you, a parrot?" Olive asked.

"Why did people keep telling you to take a bath?" Max asked, cautiously.

"Because Peeves poured a bucket of vinegar on me!" Olive exclaimed.

James gasped. "_You _walked into the trick floorboard?? That was meant to be for Damien! I was getting him back for pouring a Swelling Solution in my pumpkin juice!"

Olive stared at him in disbelief. She started towards him, but Max caught her arm. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's fine," she assured herself. "It's fine. I'm calm. I will not overreact."

"I'm really sorry, Olive!" James said. "I thought I had it perfectly planned out!"

"It's fine," Olive repeated. "No harm done. Or, should I be expecting anymore hilarious, failed pranks of yours?"

"No that's it," James assured her. "I got Damien back last night anyway."

"How?" Allie asked.

"You'll see in a couple of minutes," James said, with a wicked grin on his face.

Sure enough, what looked like Damien Wills came thundering down the corridor very agitatedly. The reason why he was so agitated was because he was itching and scratching himself all over. The girls bit the insides of they're mouths to stop themselves from giggling, but the boys, ever famous for being tactless, guffawed loudly, especially James.

"I-assume-you-had something-to do-with this," Damien said. His speech was so broken because he kept having to pause to scratch himself.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," James said, in a fake, innnocent voice that fooled no one.

"Come of it, Potter!" Damien said, impatiently. "I know you put itching powder in my bed!"

Olive couldn't help it anymore. A snort escaped her mouth and at once she started laughing. Her laugh was so infectious that all the girls that were so controlled moments before began to splutter as well.

"James!" Damien shouted. Other people now looked around in bewilderment and they too started to laugh at the sight of Damien jerking and writhing vigorously. "This isn't funny!"

No one listened to him. Everybody simply laughed harder and louder. Evidently getting sick and tired of being jeered at, Damien's eyes flashed with anger and he pulled out his wand. James saw him and pulled his own out just in time. Damien opened his mouth and raised his wand, but James, guessing that whatever spell Damien had up his sleeve would not be a pleasant one, was too quick for him.

_"Densau_-" Damien started.

"_Rictusempra!_" James yelled, and he watched Dmaien suffer considerably from the tickling spell. He got bored after a couple of minutes though and lifted it. Damien lay panting on the ground and pointed his wand to James.

"_Loco-_" he panted, but James blocked it with ease, the way his father had taught him to, and pointed it at Damien again.

"_Furnunculus!_" he shouted, and the already exhausted Damien immediately started sprouting large, red boils. Passers-by and onlookers laughed even harder. Damien really became furious and pointed his wand at James for the third time.

"_Petrifi-_" he spluttered, but once again, in vain. James blocked it with impressive ease.

"_Levicorpus!_" he shouted, sounding more exasperated and annoyed than amused now.

There was a flash of white light and Damien instantly got lifted up into the air by his left ankle and dangled there, still tired and still covered in ugly, red boils. James put his wand away with satisfied triumph. Damien growled and punched his fists in the air, like an angry gorilla at the zoo. Everyone was laughing, until a scraggy, small old man walked into the corridor. A man that everyone dreaded so much, that as soon as his appearance was apparant, a deafening silence soaked up the corridor. It was the caretaker, Mr Burrows.

"Uh-oh," James muttered. He knew Burrows very well, and he knew that this had his name written all over it. Nearly everyone knew James' history with Burrows, so most of them did the smart thing and vacated the frightening premises.

"Potter!" Burrows growled. "This has you written all over it! Headmaster's office! _Now!_"

"Good luck," Allie whispered, walking past the suspended Damien and to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. James started to walk in the other direction towards Professor Macmillan's office, but-

"Potter!" Burrows hissed again.

"What?"

"Release the boy!"

"Oh."

James got his wand out, almost reluctantly.

"_Liberacorpus_," he said, with a wave of his wand. Damien was released just as abruptly as he had been suspended.

**_Hmm, _**James thought to himself, as Damien glared at him furiously. **_Maybe revenge isn't so sweet after all._****_

* * *

_**Ten minutes later, James Potter found himself in the office of Professor Macmillan. He knew that his father had spent half his life in this very office when Professor Dumbledore had been Headmaster, and he couldn't say that the office was a strange place to him also. But nevertheless, he always found the Headmaster's office very interesting. Interesting enough to distract him for the consequences of whatever he'd done to be there in the first place, that is.

He looked around at all the photos of the Headmasters on the wall, not really taking them in as he didn't really recognize any of them. He looked at the framed-piece of paper titled O.W.L. Results and every single subject ending the line with one letter: O.

And finally, he looked at the picture that interested him the most. A framed picture on his desk of about thirty students with wands in they're hands, waving at the camera and smiling. He saw his father right at the front, standing inbetweeen Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron. They all looked very happy, and strangely young. He supposed it seemed that way because he was so used to them being the thirty-eight year old adults that they were now. His eyes averted to a pretty girl with pale skin and long, black hair. He supposed that must be Katie Wilson's mother that Olive had told him about. Further at the back, he saw his mother who was being lifted up into the air, presumably to be in fuller view of the camera, by her two brothers, his Uncle George and the long gone Uncle Fred. And then, he spotted Professor Macmillan. Right in the centre of the photo. A little round, glowing face, perhaps a little pompous, but in an affectionate way. He was standing erect and grinning, his yellow and black Prefects' badge glinting proudly. James chuckled silently and bent lower to see the photo. As he did so, his wand fell out his pocket and tapped the handle of the first draw lightl as it made it's way to the ground. After retrieving it, he saw that the desk drawer had shot open as a result. Curiously, he peered inside, but was disappointed to see that it was just a few old letters from the Ministry, a few complicated looking folders and files...and an old piece of yellowed parchment. He picked it up as he saw a name he definitely recognized.

The parchment was titled **Dumbledore's Army**, and what seemed to be a list of names. As he scanned it, he was sure he recognized the handwriting as well as a few of the names. _Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger...Cho Chang...Marietta Edgecombe...Zacharias Smith...Ernie Macmillan...Ginny Weasley...Anthony Goldstein...Susan Bones..._

Susan Bones? Where had he heard that name before? Anyway...

_Fred Weasley...George Weasley...Alicia Spinnet...Neville Longbottom...Lee Jordon...Angelina Johnson..._

And then, he suddenly realized how he recognized the handwriting.

"Aunt Hermione," he said aloud to himself. "This is her handwriting."

"Reliving your father's past, are you?" said a slow, sneering voice. James jumped and dropped the piece of parchment as well as his wand, again. A sudden small jet of flames appeared in the spot where his wand had landed. He picked it up and pointed at the small, spitting fire.

"_Aguamenti_," he said, in a slightly shaky voice. He used the hot-air charm to dry the small, wet patch on the floor and then looked around the room, which he thought had been empty up until now.

"Looks just like him too," came the sneering voice again. James stepped aside from the desk and took several steps backwards. He drew his wand and pointed it at...well nothing really.

"Show yourself!" he demanded, not talking to anyone in particular.

"He really is just like him," the voice said again. "Over-determined, arrogant, _helplessly nosy_,"

"Now now, Severus. Curiousity is not a sin."

That was a second voice. James was beginning to feel very confused. Then, just as he was about to shout out again, he caught sight of the Headmaster's portraits on the wall. There was a man with thick, black, greasy hair looking at James with a look very near disgust on his face. His dad had told him about him enough times to recognize this profile. This must be Severus Snape.  
Beside him was a great portrait of who knew was Albus Dumbledore. Even the people of his generation recognized that long, silver beard, those piercing, blue eys and those half-moon spectacles.

"James Potter," Dumbledore sighed. "Your right, Severus. He is like his father. Smart, talented, and a certain disregard for the rules it seems."

James played with his collar nervously. He was starting to feel very uncomfortable.

"Errm hi," he said, uncertainly.

"Hello James," Dumbledore said. "I believe this is the first time we've met. Although, I don't believe it's the first time I've seen you. You're no stranger to this office, are you?"

"How do you know who I am?" he asked, knowing that this was the first of many questions he was going to ask.

"We know your father of old, boy," Snape spat. "You think we couldn't recognize his son from a mile off?"

"Severus, Severus," Dumbledre said, patiently. "Now James, what are you in here for this time?"

James paused, but decided to tell them the story. Snape's face seemed to tense up and go even paler as he went on.

"Of course," he whispered. "The Potter boys still live to cause trouble, havoc and mayhem, with the same old spells it seems."

James had no idea what he was talking about. After all, he had heard his father had the saved both Hogwarts and the entire Wizarding World on countless occasions. That, in his book, didn't come under trouble, havoc and mayhem.

"He started it!" he decided to argue, somewhat childishly.

"Ah, of course," Snape said. "The ability to dodge and avoid blame at all costs. I'd forgotten that trait."

Before Dumbledore could say, "Severus" again, James couldn't help letting out a question.

"Wait, don't you like my father? Then how come he named my brother after you? Both of you, actually."

Snape paused. It didn't seem that he was used to being asked a direct question.

"So, Severus Albus Potter then?" Snape asked slowly.

"Albus Severus actually," James corrected him.

"Of course," Snape said slowly, his lip curling. But he seemed to become less hostile after that.

It was very strange. James had learned a lot about Snape and Dumbledore, even seen pictures of them, but he had never heard their voices before.

"So James," Dumbledore said, relaxing a little. "How have you enjoyed Hogwarts?"

"Err, it's good. As good as my dad said it was going to be."

"Still living up to the Potter name and causing trouble I see, as Severus so tactfully mentioned. Your father would be proud. And your mother come to that."

"Thanks," James said, somewhat proudly. He'd always liked it when people said he was like his father.

"And also," Dumbledore went on. "Tell him that I hope he's taking good care of the sword."

"Sword?" James repeated. "Is this the same sword that he used to kill the Basilisk."

"Yes, it is."

"And the same one that the goblin stole from him in Gringotts?"

"The very same," Dumbledore said.

"And the same one that-"

"Alright, alright!" Snape spat, irritably. "We don't need to recite yet _another _list of Potter's triumphs! He really is very like him, Dumbledore, aprt from perhaps, his ability in stealth."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"I heard that you flew a car here to Hogwarts at the start of the year," Snape said, getting straight to the point. "A deja vu if I ever did see one."

James gulped. It was true. Snape indeed was very frightening.

"Although," he went on, his lip curling even more. "It seems you were not caught. Perhaps you inherited your mother's stealth-skills along with your father's talent for trouble. Not a very trusting combination, I daresay."

Snape carried on saying how like his parents were for a couple of minutes, and then Professor Macmillan walked in.

"Oh, James?" he said in surprise. "Back so soon."

"Hello professor," he said.

"Now, I understand you've broken a rule of some sort. Mr Burrows gave me the slip but...I seem to have misplaced it. That's funny. I had it a minute ago. Well, I'm very busy. You'd better hurry on to class then, James."

"But-what?"

"Hurry to class! The bell's about to go!"

James grabbed his bag, and stole one last glance at the Headmasters portraits. He saw Professor Dumbledore give him a small wink. Could he have had soemthing to do with it? As he walked out, he quickly averted his eyes to Professor Snape and he could have _sworn _that he saw him stuff a small piece of parchment, which looked suspiciously like the dark red parchment that Burrows always took a note of people's rule breakage on, into his pocket.

As he walked out of the door, he also couldn't help but think that, despite how frightening and disciplinary he seemed, the times that Snape talked about how much like his father he was, seemed to be the only time he stopped sneering and put on a neutral expression. In fact, he had a hint of something in his tone of voice. Something like a hint of..._pride_.

James grinned. Perhaps Professor Snape didn't hate his father, or him as a matter of fact, as much as he made out.


	34. You Are What You Eat

_Hi! Hannah Longbottom here! I'm afraid that this story is nearing an end! But don't worry! I'm not going to leave it there! There will be a sequel coming up, but not yet. But don't worry. I will be writing a few stories to fill in the gap. I warn you though: some of them might be one-offs! I hope you like them as much as you liked this one (or as long as I **hope **that you've liked it anyway!).  
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to harry-potter-headed-twilighter for being such an awesome reviewers and I hope you have liked this story and the stories yet to come. _

_Love you all,  
HL.  
xxx_

* * *

"So, let me get this straight."

James, Allie, Poppy, Dominique, Polly, Gemma and Max were sitting in their favourite corner in the common room and James was telling them what happened to him in Macmillan's office. Allie was trying to get her head around this surprisingly easy escape.

"You spoke to two of the previous headmasters and they were telling you how like your parents you were," she said, slowly.

"Yep," James said.

"And then Macmillan walked in and forgot what it was he was supposed to be punishing you for and you saw Dumbledore wink and Snape putting the slip in his pocket?"

"Al," James said, smiling. "I just said that five seconds ago."

"Sorry," she said. "It's just, I can't believe it."

"I know. I escaped from the headmaster's office with no punishment! Must be some kind of record."

"I can't believe we're going home next week," Olive said.

"I know," Poppy agreed.

"I can't believe we've got our OWLs next year!" Dominique put in.

"Oh, God, I know!" Polly agreed.

"I can't believe how hungry I am," James said.

The six girls turned to face him in disbelief and Max laughed.

"What?" James asked, at the look on the girls' faces.

"That's seriously what you're thinking right now?" Olive asked.

"Guys, why are we really surprised?" Poppy said, impatiently. "It's James."

"Well, I don't know about you guys," James went on, leaning forward a little in his armchair. "But I am going to do something about my rumbling stomach. _Kreacher!_"

There was a very loud _crack_, and the old, frail house-elf appeared that James had seen in his house so many times. Gemma screamed.

"What's that?" she asked.

As Polly quietly explained what house-elves were, Kreacher spoke.

"You called, Master James?" Kreacher said, bowing low.

"Kreacher," James began. "I would like as much food as you can carry please and a large flagon of pumpkin juice."

"Of course Master," Kreacher said, bowing again. "Anything else?"

"Why didn't you go to dinner?" Allie interrupted.

"I did," James said, wondering why she asked.

As he watched her face turn from disbelief to amazement, Albus came down the boys' staircase.

"Kreacher?" he said, in a wonderous tone. "James, what are you making him do now?"

"I'm just a bit peckish," he replied, defensively. "Oh, and Kreacher nine Butterbeers would also be nice."

"Would you request anything, Master Albus?"

"Err, no thanks Kreacher," Albus insisted. "I'm fine."

Kreacher bowed a third and final time, and with another loud _crack_, he Disapparated.

"James," Albus said, sternly. "Aunt Hermione wouldn't be very happy."

"Well, do you see her or Rose around?"

"Good point, but Hugo is on his way down."

"Oh dear," James said, spotting trouble. He had seen his aunt in his action with her famous S.P.E.W. campaign, and it wasn't pretty. "Could someone distract him?"

"Fine," Albus said, knowing full well that his brother meant him, and he retreated up the stairs again.

Kreacher reappeared, balancing a huge platter laden with strips of turkey, a large loaf of bread, chocolate eclairs, kippers, a butter dish, a small chocolate gateau, a rather big chunk of roast ham, a flagon of pumpkin juice and nine Butterbeers as promised.

"Blimey," James blinked, startled. He took the heavy platter from the house elf. "Thanks Kreacher."

He bowed again and Disapparated for the final time.

"Right," James said, excitedly. He balanced the platter with his left arm and brought out his wand with his other hand. He pointed it at the platter. "_Wingardium Leviosa_."

"OK," he said, rubbing his hands together as the platter was lifted off him and floated in the air in the middle of the eight people. "Everyone, dig in!"

All the girls continued to give him disbelieving looks, but Max heeded him and grabbed knife from the side of the platter buttered a piece of bread and grabbed a turkey strip.

"What?" he asked, at Olive's expression.

"Come on girls," James said, clutching a Butterbeer and a chocolate eclair in either hand. "Don't pretend you're not hungry too!"

"Well, I am," Dominique replied, dropping the act and taking a Butterbeer too. "Hmm. Kreacher's always done well."

One by one, the girls gradually stopped scowling and took some food. Once they realized it was exquisite, they delved into it and became nearly as enthusiastic as the boys. _Nearly_.

About twenty minutes later, Albus walked down the stairs.

"Hugo's gone upstairs. I managed to make him remember that he hadn't finished his Transfiguration homework. Should I assume that you savages have left food for me too?"

"Yeah, of course," Olive said, finishing a slice of chocolate gateau. There are no more turkey strips, but there's still everything else.

So, as Albus came and joined them, the Hogwarts students sat down, ate and drank merrily, talking about the events that had taken place in the year that was almost over and the events yet to come.


	35. One Warped Family Tree

_Hi! Hannah Longbottom here! This is the last chapter, I'm afraid! But, like I said in the last chapter, there will be a sequel soon enough! Stay tuned! I'm really glad you've all liked this story!  
I'm going to dedicate this chapter to two people this time. Firstly, ObsessedTwilightFan because you've been a really good reviewer! And second of all to FaithfulHPReader, because you have lived up to your word and been a faithful HP reader! You're probably the one person who's kept up with my story the most! Thanks a lot! And don't worry, soon you'll have a whole new sequel to keep up with! _

_Thanks to all you reviewers!  
Love,  
HL.  
xxx

* * *

_"Where _is _Heidi?" Poppy asked, irritably.

"I don't know," Olive replied, unhelpfully. "Maybe she's saying goodbye to Nathan."

"Olive, he's going to be on the Hogwarts Express _with _us."

"Oh yeah. Well then, I have no idea what she's doing. Where's Max? He said he'd meet me down here to help me with my trunk."

On the other side of the Gryffindor common room, James and Albus were saying goodbye to Victoire, who was going to walk into Hogsmeade and Disapparate from there.

"Ah, I am so tearful," she said, which sounded sentimental, but the boys knew their cousin better than that. She was just worried about her makeup running.

"We'll miss you," James said. "There'll be no one here to boss us around anymore."

"Oh, I think I can fill in satisfactorily."

Dominique had overheard and came and stood beside James, grinning. James and Albus laughed.

"And anyway," Victoire went on. "You haven't gotten rid of me for long. I'll be around. I'll be showing up at your house unannounced and telling you to tidy up, James!"

"Great," James said, sarcastically.

"And will we see you in Brazil in the summer?" asked Albus.

"Wouldn't miss it," Victoire replied. "Partly because our dad is making us go."

"Yeah," Dominique put in. "And I thought Uncle Charlie was the one who liked exotic places."

They all laughed.

"So, bye guys," Victoire said, giving them both a hug in either of her arms. When she let go, she looked at Dominique and winked.

"See you at home sis," she said, and she walked out of the room, her startlingly many trunks flying alongside her.

Olive and Poppy were still waiting for they're absentee sister and absentee boyfriend in Olive's case.

"Where _is _she?" Poppy asked again.

"I don't know," Olive replied again, no more helpfully than the first time she had said it.

Finally, they saw Heidi walking down the staircase, carrying her trunk.

"Finally!" Poppy said. "You took long enough!"

"I'm sorry!" Heidi said. "I couldn't find some of my spellbooks! And the trunk is heavy!"

"You know," Olive said, drawing her wand. "You could just do this. _Wingardium Leviosa!_"

Heidi's trunk floated out of her hands and levitated, level with her eyes.

"Thanks," Heidi said, bemused. "I didn't think of that."

"It's OK," Olive replied, doing the same with her own trunk and putting her wand away. "I didn't either. I was going to have Max help me with my trunk. Now he doesn't need to."

Nevertheless, Max was walking down the stairs with his own trunk. He as well had not thought of levitating it. As he walked towards them, Heidi brought out her own wand and did the honours.

"Oh," Max said. "Thanks. Hey, now I don't need to help with your trunk, Olive!"

"Yeah, we gathered," Poppy replied, as Olive flounced over and gave him a hug.

"So, are we going?" Heidi asked.

"Yes, we are now that you've all decided to join us," Poppy said, irritably.

Heidi rolled her eyes, but did not say anything. By now, she'd learnt not to anger Poppy whenever she used that tone.

So, the five of them walked down to the train and met up with the rest of they're friends. Olive and Max separated to go and talk to Mat, Rose, Albus, Hazel, Gemma and Ryan. Poppy went with James, Felicity, Allie and Ella. Heidi and Nathan went over to Freya, Ruby, Daisy Crombie, a friendly, blonde haired girl from Hufflepuff in their year, Ollie, Hugo, Lucas, Georgie and Holly Winslet from Ravenclaw.

"Hi!" Heidi said, walking over to Ruby, beaming.

"Hi," Ruby replied, uncertainly. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to remember you. Have we met?"

"What?" Heidi asked, surprised. "Rubes, it's me."

"Oh," Ruby answered, still not convinced. "Right, sorry, you're name's Heidi something, isn't it? It's funny, I can't really remember you. Maybe because I don't remember the last proper conversation that you and I had that lasted more than five minutes!"

Heidi laughed. "Sorry, Rubes! It's not on purpose, I swear! OK, tell you what. I'll sit with you on the Hogwarts Express. A long journey, all devoted to you and me. And Nathan."

Ruby glared at her.

"Sorry!" Heidi apologized. "I promised him! But it's fine! We''ll find a big compartment."

* * *

An hour later, Mat, Rose, Hugo, Albus, Louis, Hazel, Gemma, Fred, Daphne, Victoria, Lily, Olive, Jack and Ryan managed to find a big enough compartment (the very biggest only recently built, most likely when they saw how many Weasleys were coming into the world) with Poppy, James, Felicity, Allie and Ella. Max and Olive were sitting together holding hands, and Mat was lying on Jack's lap, looking very tired. The conversation was casual and easy.

"Rose," Ryan said, lazily. "Your sister's coming to Hogwarts next year, isn't she?"

"Ryan, I don't have a sister," Rose replied, confused.

"Wha-"

"But I do have a cousin coming here next year," Rose went on. "Her name's Lily."

"OK whoa," Ryan said, sitting up. "I thought Lily was your sister."

"No," James answered, his voice muffled as his head was buried in Allie's shoulder. "Lily's my sister."

"And mine," Albus put in.

"But-" Ryan said, bewildered. "OK, can someone please explain this bizarre and complicated family tree because it's been two years and I still don't get it."

"Yeah me too," Allie said.

"I actually have trouble with it sometimes," Jack said.

"It is a bit confusing," agreed Mat.

Rose, Albus, Fred, Daphne, Lily, Hugo, Louis, Victoria and James all looked at each other.

"You're the smart one Rose," James commented. "Do you want to take it away?"

Rose sat up.

"OK," she sighed, deeply. "This could take a while, but here we go. My name is Rose Weasley. I have one brother, Hugo. Our parents are Hermione Weasley nee Granger and Ron Weasley. Our mum doesn't have any brothers or sisters, but our dad has five brothers, one dead, and a sister. The eldest brother, our uncle, Bill Weasley married our aunt, Fleur Delacour. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur had three children. Victoire, Dominique and Louis, our three cousins.  
Dad's next brother is our uncle, Charlie Weasley, the second third. Uncle Charlie married our aunt, Miriam Thwaites. Uncle Charlie and Aunt Miriam had twin daughters. Our cousins, Victoria and Lily Weasley."

"I'm older by two minutes by the way," Victoria interrupted.

"Don't interrupt!" Rose snapped. "Anyway, our dad's third brother is Uncle Percy. He married our aunt, Penelope Clearwater. Uncle Percy and Aunt Penelope had two children. Our cousins, Lucy and Harry Weasley. Harry will be here next year.  
"Dad's fourth brothers were the identical twins Uncle Fred and Uncle George. But sadly, Uncle Fred died before we had even been born. We never met him, but even so, we've heard a lot about him and he sounds like he was really fun and funny and interesting, and we're all really sorry that we never met him. But however, Uncle George is still with us, and he's still funny enough for us. Uncle George married our aunt, Alicia Spinnet. Uncle George and Aunt Alicia had two twins, a boy and a girl, Fred and Daphne. And, yes I know, Fred! You're older by ten minutes! Shut up!  
"_Anyway_, Dad was next after Uncles Fred and George. And then dad's younger sister is our aunt, Ginny Potter nee Weasley. Aunt Ginny married our uncle, Harry Potter, and of course, you all know who he is. Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry had three children, James, Albus and Lily Potter. Lily is coming to Hogwarts next year along with Harry Weasley, Uncle Percy and Aunt Penny's son. Oh, and our grandparents are Molly and Arthur Weasley. And, that's basically it. Understand it now?"

"See?" James said. "It's really not that complicated."

"Yeah," Gemma agreed, sarcastically. "It's like one plus one multiplied by 200, 456 divided by 56, 7345! Completely simple!"

"What are you on about?" Olive asked, in bewilderment.

"So," Ryan said, still trying to get his head around all this. "You have two cousins called Lily. Lily Potter and Lily Weasley."

"Yep," Rose replied.

"And James and Albus, you have a sister _and _a cousin called Lily."

"Yeah," James and Albus replied, simultaneously.

"Wow," Ryan said. "So, Olive, Poppy, where do you come in?"

"We're family friends," Olive replied. "Our mum and dad were friends with James and Albus's parents at school."

"And Hazel?" Ryan asked.

"Ditto," Hazel replied, in her airy-fairy tone.

"Wow," Ryan uttered for the second time. "That is one warped family tree."

Finally, the Hogwarts Express drew to a stop and all the students grabbed their trunks and belongings and rushed out to meet their families.

James and Albus dragged their trunks when they saw their parents and Lily standing beside Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, who were as usual, having one of their silly quarrels.

"Honestly Ron, you're so-"

"Hermione!"

"No, don't interrupt me! You're so-"

"Hermione! Our children are here!"

"Oh!" Hermione looked around with a start and smiled when she saw Hugo and Rose looking up at her. Rose had an eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Are you two fighting again?" she asked, sternly.

"What?" her mother asked, in an unconvincingly surprised tone. "No, darling! Of course not!"

Rose looked at her father and he winked before hastily bending down to pick up Hugo's trunk as Hermione turned around to look at him. Rose knew that they _had _been fighting, but she wasn't worried. She only had to take one look at the way her father looked at her mother, and she knew it was OK.

"Hi Dad!" James said, walking up to his parents and sister along with Albus.

"Before you sweet talk me, what have you done this time?" Harry said sternly, as Ginny bent down and gave Albus a hug.

"Dad," James began, in a pacifying tone. "I promise you, this time I didn't do anything."

"And what about you?" Ginny asked Albus, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Not much," Albus said.

"So," Harry was saying to Ron. "When are we all going to Brazil again?"

"Beginning of August. Not my idea." Ron muttered the second sentence out of the corner of his mouth. "Hermione thought it would be fun."

"Mum, we really do have one warped family tree," Albus commented.

Harry and Ginny laughed.

"Where did that come from?" Harry asked.

"Oh, we were just talking about it on the train," James answered.

"Yeah, I know," Ron agreed. "I can't believe I'm related to Harry now. But I learn to live with him."

So after Ron had rightfully earned a punch on the arm from Harry, the Potters and the Weasleys all went home to relax for three months before they worried about yet another eventful year.

"Hey Fred, Dpah," Albus said, as the twins and their parents joined up with them and walked alongside. "You guys didn't cause any trouble!"

"Fred, Daphne," George put in, sternly. "I am _so _disappointed."

"You have every right to be Dad," Fred replied, shaking his head. "We were much too calm this year."

"Oh well," Daphne sighed, with a sneaky smile on her face. "There's always next year."

And Daphne was right. There was always next year.


End file.
